Losing Sight of a Falling Star
by The Steppy One
Summary: ‘NO! He isn’t here. He would have found me!’ ‘Hermione!’ he said louder, causing her to stop her argument. She looked at his eyes and followed the light from his wand until her eyes saw another version of her worst nightmare come true.
1. Chapter 1 Losing Sleep

**Disclaimer – I don't own any of the characters in this story, they all belong to JK Rowling, only the plot is mine.**

**Please read and review it, any constructive criticism is welcome. Thanks, Step ;)**

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Chapter 1

She held her wand in her hand, twirling it occasionally as she stared at the ceiling. She was led on her bed, trying, and failing, to fall asleep. Out of boredom she had picked up her wand from underneath her pillow. Really she didn't need to keep it there anymore; Now the war was over there wasn't much chance of anyone attacking her as she slept, but still, it had become a comfort to her over the years and she just felt better with it there.

Lumos she thought, and her wand tip sparked as the beam of light hit the ceiling. A second later she thought the counter spell and the room was dark once more. Lumos she again thought, sending the thin beam of light to the same spot as before, her hand not having moved. Nox, Merlin I must be bored, she thought. I wonder how fast I can do that. Lumos, Nox, Lumos, Nox, Lumos, Nox. Faster and faster she thought the spell and it's counter until the light became a constant flicker on the ceiling. Suddenly she stopped.

'Merlin Hermione, go to sleep!' she said aloud, she moved her hands to cover her face, the cold wood of her wand pressed against her cheekbone as she did so. She rolled over and checked her alarm clock, which was sat on her bedside table. It read three seventeen. _Shit!_ She thought, she'd been in bed since quarter to twelve and had read her book for quite a while trying to shut her mind off. But even ignoring the time she was reading she had been led awake for over two hours.

The past few weeks had been the same (with the odd good night thrown in for good measure,) ever since that fateful night when one nightmare ended and another began for Hermione Granger. For when the whole of the wizarding world was celebrating Voldemort's everlasting downfall – and they were sure this time that he had actually died – Hermione was unknowingly about to be thrown into her own bad dream, one that would be shared by nine other people.

Harry Potter was a hero once again, well maybe not to those who supported the Dark Lord, but to the rest of the wizarding population he was "the one who saved them all."

After the light had disappeared from Voldemort's eyes Hermione had awoken from her concussion to find her best friend laying on the cold, hard earth opposite the one they all feared, apparently dead. She stumbled over to his body and knelt next to him. Frantically she searched for a pulse but with her heart hammering in her ears and throughout her body she couldn't determine who's she could feel in her fingertips. In desperation she pulled Harry's wand from his hand and muttered the only spell she could think of that might help.

'En…enervate,' she stuttered. The wand tip glowed and sent eerie shadows over Harry's face. When the glow faded she held her breath waiting for some kind of sign that Harry was awakening. When it didn't come she said the spell again, her voice faltering as she did so.

'Enervate!' again she waited for something, anything to happen. It then dawned on her that he could have been lying here for hours. She had no idea how long the battle had lasted for, or how long she herself had been unconscious. Chances were that Harry had been dead for hours.

Tears filled her eyes as the realisation that her best friend was dead hit her. She squinted around in the darkness looking for anyone that might have been able to help her. When her eyes met only darkness and fallen bodies she started sobbing. After a minute or so she calmed down ever so slightly and looked at Harry's face. His glasses were askew and the right lens cracked. Remembering the first time she met Harry Potter on the train to Hogwarts she muttered the spell that fixed his glasses and set them straight on his face.

'Well, you did it Harry. You defeated V…Voldemort. You did it all by yourself. You've freed the wizarding world from fear, torture and death. There won't be a child born in our world that won't know how brave you were, how selfless you were and how you died fighting for good against evil.' A few more tears fell from her eyes as she placed Harry's hands across his stomach. She held his hand in hers as she said her final goodbye to him.

'Thank you Harry, sweet dreams.' She leaned forward and kissed him, tears falling on his cheeks as she did so. She pulled back and closed her eyes.

'I hope Ron didn't see you doing that, he'll be as jealous as hell.' Her eyes snapped open and she stared at the face below her. Two bright green eyes were sparkling beneath the glasses on his face.

'Harry,' she whispered, not believing her eyes.

'Hermione, what's happened? Is it over?' She stared at him still not knowing whether to believe what her eyes were telling her she was seeing.

'Hermione?' Harry said again. She decided to answer him; maybe if she did things would be clearer as to whether or not she was dreaming.

'Erm, I don't know exactly. V…Voldemort's lying on the ground behind us. He's dead Harry, you did it.' Harry stood up quickly and walked over to where Voldemort's body lay. Hermione stood up and moved next to Harry, handing him his wand as she did so.

'Please tell me he's dead Harry.'

'He should be. I destroyed all the horcruxes, the last piece of his soul was in his body,' he turned towards her, 'look, you should get out of here. Apparate back to HQ and get as many people here as you can.

'Harry, if anyone could be here, wouldn't they be?' His eyes met hers, they both showed fear.

'_Surely there must be someone,_' Harry asked in a whisper. In answer to his wondering, a series of cracks were heard by both of them. Hermione turned around to the sound but Harry stood in front of her, instinctively protecting her.

'Who's there?' he called.

'Harry?' the familiar voice of Charlie Weasley answered. Harry lit his wand and saw a group of people moving towards them, Charlie leading the way. Charlie looked at Harry and Hermione and then spotted the sprawled figure of Voldemort lying behind them.

'Merlin, is that him?'

Harry looked behind him and then back at Charlie.

'Yeah, that's him,' Harry replied.

'Is he dead?'

'Looks that way.' The three people behind Charlie moved past him and Harry and Hermione to look at Voldemort's fallen form. As Remus Lupin passed Harry he put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He joined Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks at the side of the dead wizard.

Charlie moved towards Harry and Hermione.

'You two should get back to Headquarters, it might not be safe here.'

'Voldemort's dead Charlie,' the older wizard flinched at hearing the name, 'it should be pretty safe most places from now on.'

'Don't be complacent Harry,' a sharp voice from behind him made him turn around. Remus was making his way towards Harry.

'If he is dead there are going to be some very angry death eaters out there ready to claim revenge. Charlie's right, you should go back to HQ immediately, if for nothing else than to tell those who are there what's happened. Hermione moved her hand on to Harry's arm.

'Harry, let's go back. I want to see Ron.'

'Ron?' Charlie asked, 'He came back here to help fight after he brought Mad-Eye back to HQ.' A panic rose inside Hermione, one that she had felt far too often.

'No,' she argued, 'he can't be here, he would have come to find me after apparating back, and the last time I saw him was when he was taking Moody back to HQ.'

'Hermione, he definitely came back. He wanted to make sure you and Harry were still alive, there was no stopping him.' Without her realising, Harry had lit his wand and was searching the ground where he remembered last seeing Ron. He stopped when his light rested on a familiar looking figure laying on the ground.

'Hermione,' he whispered, hardly able to make his mouth move.

'NO! He _isn't_ here. _He would have found me!_'

'Hermione!' he said louder, causing her to stop her argument. She looked at his eyes and then followed the light from his wand until her eyes saw another version of her worst nightmare laid out in front of her.


	2. Chapter 2 Broken Glass

Chapter 2

Hermione reached over to take her book off her bedside table but as she moved it, she knocked her half empty glass of water to the floor. It smashed against the hardwood floor and the water covered her neatly lined up shoes and trainers, and some paperwork she had yet to file which had found a temporary home on the floor.

'Oh, bloody hell!' she shouted a little too loudly. It wasn't the smashed glass that bothered her; that she could mend in an instant, it was the water seeping into her pile of papers that was the problem, especially when she couldn't remember the incantation for the drought charm. As she was sitting up to sort out the mess on the floor a quiet knock on her bedroom door met her ears.

'Hermione, are you all right?'

'Yeah, I'm fine, just broke a glass.'

'Oh, ok. Can I come in?'

'Yeah, sure,' the door opened and the silhouette of her housemate met her gaze. Although Harry Potter had stopped growing in height he was still tall, not as tall or lanky as Ron, but still a reasonable height for a nineteen-year-old man. His usually messy hair was worse after three hours in bed. As he moved into Hermione's wand light she saw that his eyes weren't properly open.

'What happened?' he asked.

'I was picking up my book and I knocked the glass to the floor. Did it wake you?'

'Not really, I wasn't exactly asleep, got my heart racing a bit though,' he patted his bare chest which was very toned considering he didn't do a huge amount of exercise.

'Well, I'm sorry.'

'That's ok, I knew nothing was seriously wrong when you started swearing!' she smiled, something he didn't see her do a great deal these days. 'Are you going to fix that? Or are you going to risk getting glass in your feet?' She raised her wand.

'Reparo.' The glass reformed perfectly on the floor. She picked it up and replaced it on her bedside table. 'I can't remember the drought spell to dry that up. Can you?' He smiled at her and took her wand from her hand. She looked at him as he performed the spell non-verbally and when she next looked at the ground it was dry. 'Thanks.' Noticing her pile of papers was wet he summoned them to him and performed the charm that sent a jet of hot air out of Hermione's wand.

'You know, I think Ron's been a bad influence on you. You never used to be one for swearing.' Again she smiled.

'I know, but it has to be said Ron swears a lot less than he used to, maybe I was a good influence on him.'

'On all of us, Hermione. They wouldn't have let us move out of first year at Hogwarts if you hadn't made us revise.' He puts his arm around her and gave her a hug. 'These are dry by the way,' he added, handing the papers back to Hermione.

'Thanks,' she took them from him and replaced them on the floor. 'So why couldn't you sleep?' she asked Harry.

'I had too much coffee earlier,' he replied. She turned to face him, a questioning look in her eyes. He looked at her knowing she didn't believe him. 'Ok, I had a bad dream.'

'Which one? Or was it a new one?'

'It was the one where Voldemort had me under the Imperius curse and he made me kill you, Ron and Ginny.'

'Oh, it was that one.'

'Yeah, I'm ok though, they're becoming less frequent so don't start worrying again. You have enough to deal with without my problems.'

'Harry, how many times have I told you that our individual problems have always become each other's problems? It's what being best friends is all about.'

'Yeah ok, ok, I know. So why couldn't you sleep?'

'The usual.'

'Thinking about Ron?'

'Yeah, I just keep thinking we've missed something so simple. There has to be a perfectly logical explanation as to why he wasn't woken up yet.'

'Hermione, he's in a coma, we've tried _everything_. The healers at St. Mungo's have tried everything. It's up to him now. _He_ has to wake himself up.' She looked at her feet dangling six inches off the floor.

'I know, I just feel so helpless and I miss him so much. When I think of all the times at school when we ignored the way we felt and we could have been together, I get so angry with myself.' Her voice broke on her last word and she closed her eyes to stop the tears spilling from them. Harry put his arm around his friend.

'Hey, now come on. Don't think like that. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but it doesn't help you feel any better. He will wake up when he's good and ready, and then you'll have the rest of your lives together.' She pulled away from his hug.

'Merlin Harry! You've got us married already and we're not even twenty yet!'

'Are you telling me you've never thought about it?' he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

'Ok, so I have but don't tell Ron that, he'll stay in that coma for years if you do!' She smiled.

'That's more like it. Do you think you'll be able to sleep now?'

'I dunno, how about you?'

'No idea. Look, do you want me to sleep in here so you've got company?'

'If you don't mind.'

'Not at all, your bed's nicer than mine anyway!' They both got under the covers with Harry lying behind Hermione, his arm around her waist giving her comfort.

There had never been anything but friendship between Harry and Hermione. Hermione loved Ron and Harry loved Ginny, end of story, but when you're the celebrity Harry Potter, who's living with a woman he has always been close too, it was hard to escape the constant rumours about the two of them. If the press could see them now, they'd have a field day. But luckily they couldn't, so Harry concentrated on falling asleep. The comfort they found in each other worked, as twenty minutes later, they were sound asleep.


	3. Chapter 3 Harsh Awakenings

Chapter 3

The August sun broke through the gap in Hermione's curtains as her and Harry slept on, blissfully unaware their sleep was about to be ended. Neither of them had moved since the night before.

The harsh ringing of Hermione's alarm clock jerked them both from their sleep. Hermione, used to the sound of the clock sleepily moved her arm out from under the covers and heavily brought her hand down on top of it to stop the ringing. She did so a little too heavily, for as her hand skidded off the bells at the top, the clock toppled over and landed heavily on the floor. She sighed, not quite awake enough to swear at the mishap.

'Hermione, if you keep breaking things I'll have to ban you from leaving this room.' She moved to peer over the edge of her bed.

'For your information, oh saviour of the world, it is perfectly in tact.' He chose to ignore her piss take of the new name the Prophet had taken to calling him; she had only used it because he had been rude to her.

'Really? That was lucky!'

'Well, apparently muggle alarm clocks are made of sterner stuff.' She sat up and turned so she was sat on the edge of the bed.

'Do you want the shower first or can I use it?' Hermione asked.

'You use it. I'm not due in work 'til eleven. Just don't steal all the hot water.'

'Oh, that's rich coming from you. For the last two mornings I've had to rinse my hair off in freezing water because you drained the system of the hot stuff.'

'That is such a lie!'

'We'll see Saviour Boy!' He laughed as she stood up and walked to the bathroom. She locked the door behind her, not that there was any need, Harry knew she was in the shower and was hardly going to walk in on her. She did it out of habit more than anything. She took two towels off the rack and dropped them in front of the shower ready for when she emerged from the water.

She quickly took off her pyjamas, set the water running and waited the thirty seconds it took for the water to heat up. She stepped into the stream of water and as she let it soak her hair through, sorted out the coming day in her mind.

After the war had ended Harry could have chosen to do anything he wanted, well, maybe not become Minister for Magic, although some people had called for the move. What would have been their seventh year at Hogwarts wasn't spent working towards their NEWTs. Ron and Hermione had told Harry they would help him on his journey to find and destroy the remaining horcruxes, and after Harry's journey to Godrick's Hollow – something he insisted he do on his own – the three of them returned to Hogwarts to continue their work trying to locate them.

The school of witchcraft and wizardry had opened, although in the time the trio were there the student numbers were greatly reduced. Families were – of course – allowed to remove students if they wanted to, and many of the students waged private battles with their parents to let them go back to their school, some of them not winning.

Although Professor McGonagal (now elected Headmistress of the school) didn't know what work Harry and Albus Dumbledore had started the previous year she had allowed Harry, Ron and Hermione to continue it. The seventh year at Hogwarts was by no means compulsory, by seventh year all students had come of age so could make their own choice about their education. Harry, Ron and Hermione had made their choice, and although their elders had – understandably – had their doubts they thought it best that the trio stay in the castle. Hermione was pleased, nowhere had a library like Hogwarts, and on a more basic level the three of them would find life easier with their meals prepared, their washing cleaned and several members of the Order of the Phoenix present at all times. It took over a year and a half to complete their task, and then finally the great battle had taken place.

Even though Harry and Hermione hadn't studied for, and therefore gained any NEWTs they were both now working for the Ministry of Magic, training to be Aurors. Harry could have asked for anything he wanted when the wizarding world had realised the amount of work he had done to destroy Voldemort. The only thing he had actually asked for was to be accepted onto the Auror training course, Hermione too, and finally Ron when he woke up from his coma. Harry felt he owed this to his two best friends; they had helped him more than they knew during those eighteen long, hard months.

The Ministry had welcomed them with open arms, but Harry made sure he had a sincere apology from Rufus Scrimgeour before he started working for the people who had slandered his name before he had even come of age. The Ministry had organised a house for the three of them to live in and gave it to Harry rent-free. Harry had flatly refused to take the place for free, but eventually had accepted paying less rent than was normal so the Ministry was happy, but he was still paying his way.

Hermione was finished washing her hair and was towelling herself dry. She had worked out the way her day was going to pan out. She was working from nine until three with her hour lunch break at twelve, which she would spend at the hospital at Ron's bedside, talking to him as if he were awake and replying to her conversation. She had managed to get over the guilt of leaving Ron for most of the day, Mrs Weasley amongst others had told her she had to get on with her life as best she could.

Harry would be working until five as he wasn't expected in until eleven. So she would spend time with Ron from three until half past five. Harry would come in to see him at five and the two of them would leave for some tea at half past, or six if other people had come to visit and they had got talking. After tea she would complete any work they had been set at work, and revise the work of the day in case of any surprise tests that may get sprung on them the next day. If, at the end of all that she was still awake, she would collapse in front of the TV and hopefully fall asleep.


	4. Chapter 4 Breakfast Banter

Chapter 4

She wrapped the towel around her and walked back into her room. Harry had left, but before he had done so had made Hermione's bed for her. She smiled at the gesture but then noticed the ginger ball of fluff in the middle of the bed, and the muddy paw prints leading up to it.

'Crookshanks, you could have wiped her feet before you came in here.' As her eyes scanned the floor more paw prints came to her attention. It was one of the reasons why she wanted a wooden floor – it was easier to clean. She moved to her window and peered through the gap in the curtains. The sun was out and the trees were as still as anything.

'Crookshanks, where did you find a puddle to get muddy in?' The cat ignored her as he had been doing since she walked in the room. She moved away from the window and opened her wardrobe. She pulled out her newly washed jeans; luckily for her the Ministry didn't demand a uniform or even smart 'office wear' from its trainee Aurors, as her jeans were her favourite item of clothing. She pulled one of her many sleeveless white T-shirts from her drawer, they went with anything, hence why she had many.

Fifteen minutes later she emerged from her bedroom ready to face the day. She had dressed, put her make-up on and tamed her hair, something that used to take twenty minutes in itself, but after the discovery of a couple of tricky charms combined with another more well known one, it took her just five minutes.

Her bag and trainers were downstairs in the hallway; she checked she had everything in her bag before moving through to the kitchen to eat her breakfast.

There were three types of cereal in the kitchen cupboard: Harry's which was full of sugar and chocolate – Hermione's theory being that he wasn't allowed anything like this whilst he was growing up so was indulging now – and the other two were Hermione's, a healthy option and a not so healthy option. This morning she opted for the not so healthy option, it had more sugar in, and with the four and a half hours sleep she managed to get last night, she needed all the energy she could get.

As she was pouring the newly delivered milk into her cereal bowl, Harry walked in to the kitchen and started making them both a mug of coffee.

'Something tells me we're going to need a few of these today,' he said as he put the kettle on to boil. Unlike most wizards and witches, Harry and Hermione lived in a typically muggle house. They lived on a muggle street in a muggle part of town and had their milk delivered by a muggle milkman. Having grown up thinking they were muggles the young witch and wizard liked living this way, they had the best of both worlds. The only things they had to watch were those running off electricity. It had been a while since either of them had caused a spike in the supply, but as they were growing older their magical power was increasing and the more they got upset or angry, the greater the chance they would have of having to replace their TV.

'Yeah, you could say that,' she agreed through a mouthful of cereal. She swallowed, allowing her to talk more freely. 'I thought you'd be in bed if you don't have to be in 'til eleven.'

'I thought about it but my bed was cold and I thought I could do something more constructive with my time.'

'Anything specific?'

'Well, I thought I'd go to Diagon Alley. I might get myself some new dress robes, we've got that ball thing coming up and I'm not sure if my other ones'll fit anymore.'

'You're bottle green ones?'

'Yeah those ones.'

'The ones you last wore at the Yule Ball when you were fourteen? The one's you last wore when you were at least six inches smaller than you are now?'

'What's your point?' he asked with a smile on his face.

'Nothing, nothing,' she replied trying to suppress her giggles. She moved over to the sink and rinsed out her bowl, leaving it on the side to be cleaned later, as she turned towards Harry he held a mug of coffee in front of her and she took it, the smell filling her nose before she sipped it.

'So apart from shopping is there anything else you need to do?'

'Not really, I might pop in and see Ron.'

Hermione looked at him puzzled over the top of her coffee mug.

'Visiting hours aren't 'til three Harry, will they let you in?'

'They let you in at lunch time.'

'Ah yes, but I have permission from Healer Thompson 'cause I'm special!' she replied with a smile. Harry laughed.

'Well, if they don't let me in I'll have to flirt shamelessly with a Mediwitch until she lets me in.'

'Something tells me you won't have a problem getting in Saviour Boy!'

'You know if you keep calling me that I might have get myself a superhero costume to compliment the name.'

'Oooh Harry Potter in Lycra, I can't wait!'

'Hmmm,' Harry replied, 'maybe not.'

He finished his coffee and rinsed his mug. As Hermione finished hers he did the same again.

'So are you going to that ball thing?' Harry asked Hermione, unsure as to how she would react to the question. In response she looked at the floor.

'I don't know yet. There doesn't seem much point in going if Ron can't be there.'

'Well the whole point of it is so we can meet the other people on the course, apart from the other people in my group I think I only know you, oh and Colin. I wouldn't care but every time I walk through the Ministry I get at least ten people saying hello to me and I haven't got a clue who half of them are.'

'Yeah I get that sometimes, obviously not as bad as you, but then that is the price you pay for being shacked up with-'

'If you say saviour boy, saviour of the world, the boy who lived or the chosen one I swear I'll hex you.' Hermione smiled.

'Now would I do that Harry?'

'Yes Hermione, you would so don't act the innocent.'

'I'm offended Harry, I really am,' she replied with a grin on her face, 'but unfortunately I can't hang around to hear your apology 'cause I'll be late for work. I'll see you later,' she called as she walked through to the hallway. She pulled on her denim jacket, her trainers and her bag onto her shoulder as she listened to Harry shout his goodbye from the kitchen.

'Have fun Saviour Boy!' she replied, and with that she apparated to work.


	5. Chapter 5 Visiting Home

**Hi, thanks for the reviews, much appreciated. This one's a bit longer than the others and is a bit descriptive but I think it adds to the story in a good way, hope you agree. I wasn't sure about whether the lifts ascend or descend in the Ministry of magic from the atrium, I got confused when I read book five and tried to figure it out. I went with descend but if someone can figure it out and it's wrong then let me know and I'll change it! Lol Please keep the reviews coming ;)**

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Chapter 5

The Atrium in the Ministry of Magic was immaculately clean as ever. As Hermione appeared out of thin air she still wore the smile on her face that appeared when she'd thought of Harry's expression at her name-calling. The first time she had come to the Ministry (in an official context that is) for her interview for the training course – a formality, she was told, as they had practically offered her a place on a velvet pillow – she had half expected there to be a statue of Harry spouting water instead of the fountain of magical brethren. To hers – and Harry's – relief there wasn't one, and the witch, wizard, centaur, goblin and house elf were still spouting water and painting a slightly idealistic view of the wizarding world.

As she passed the fountain she dug around in her jacket pockets for some spare change to throw in the fountain, when she didn't find any she made a mental note to put some in as she left. She walked to the lifts at the end of the atrium and joined the group of witches and wizards who were also waiting.

After a minute a lift rattled up to meet them. As she walked into the lift she saw that the small number two was highlighted on the wall meaning she didn't have to press the button herself. She took a glimpse around the lift wondering if someone else from the course was in there. Instead of recognising someone from her group she saw a wizard who she thought was an auror. When he turned and smiled at her she guessed her thoughts were right.

She had been on the training course for a month now but was still quite intimidated by the scores of witches and wizards who she saw doing very important work for wizard kind. Although training to go into a highly skilled area of work, she sometimes felt like a little girl in comparison. The lift started and stopped as the withes and wizards arrived at their departments. When the lift shuddered to a halt at the auror office she stepped out, along with the wizard who smiled at her earlier. However when she turned left as she moved from the confined space of the lift he carried straight on to his cubicle.

Hermione walked down the corridor and stopped outside the open door of the room in which this morning's lecture would take place. As she walked through she looked around to see who else had arrived. There were only three other people in the room, and they were sat in the middle row of the chairs. The room they were using had at least thirty seats in. Considering the Ministry took in twenty new recruits this year, and each year group was split into three for teaching, the members of this group were going to look very lost in the sea of chairs.

She took a seat at the end of the row the other three were sitting on. She knew them by name and to have pleasant conversation with, but she found they didn't like to ask too many questions. They all knew her story; she had helped Harry Potter destroy He-who-must-not-be-named and her boyfriend Ron – Harry's other best friend – was lying in the permanent residence ward in St. Mungo's.

She understood why they kept a slight distance, but then again, they had only known each other a month, things would probably get better. In the next five minutes the other three members of the class arrived and took their seats, and then their lecturer turned up looking slightly dishevelled, but that was nothing new. Two minutes later she was immersed in her note taking learning simple and more complicated ways of disguising yourself.

At twelve o'clock precisely she was walking back through the atrium. She rummaged in her jeans pocket for the handful of Knuts she had taken out of her purse earlier and threw them in the fountain of magical brethren as she passed it. She got to the end of the room, where any visitors arrived through their telephone box entrance. She turned on the spot and disappeared from sight. A second later she reappeared behind the tree in her parents' back garden.

It had dawned on her whilst she was writing down the finer points of a disillusionment charm that it had been three days since she had visited her parents. She had promised them when she moved out of home that she would visit every few days, so her mum could fuss over her and send her home with extra food if she looked too thin or malnourished. Her dad was always pleased to see her, she was his only daughter after all and he never ceased to be amazed at all the stories Hermione told about the wizarding world.

She checked that the neighbours weren't peering over the garden fence or out of upstairs windows before emerging from behind the tree. She walked up the stepping-stones to the patio. Her dad had kindly laid them down for her so that when it rained she didn't have to walk through the muddy grass. They were warned when they were in their second apparation class at Hogwarts of the perils that might come about from instantly appearing in someone else's house. Apart from it being very rude, people – both wizards and muggles had become injured in serious ways because of someone appearing out of thin air at their side. Falling off ladders, getting scalded from hot drinks and being hexed or jinxed by the witch or wizard you were going to see were just a few of the hazards explained.

She walked around the front of the house and saw her mother's car in the drive. This was perfectly normal as her mum always came home in her lunch break; the family practice was only five minutes drive into town and her mum liked to catch the last half hour of morning television before watching the news.

Hermione took her keys out of her bag and unlocked the door. It was all well and good being a witch and able to get in most places with an incantation, but if you did it at the wrong time it could lead to some very awkward questions. Sometimes it was easier to adopt muggle ways.

'Mum,' she called as she walked through the door and made her way through to the lounge. 'Mum,' she called again when she got no answer.

'Hermione?' her mother replied with surprise in her voice. Hermione walked into the lounge and smiled as her mum beamed at her, very happy at seeing her daughter.

'Hermione how are you?' she asked as she gave her a rib-cracking hug. 'It's been a while since we saw you last.'

'I'm fine mum, and it was Sunday when I last came, it's only Wednesday now.' The two of them sit on the sofa.

'Yes well, it just seems like a long time, are you sure you're ok? You look tired.'

'Well I am. I'm still not sleeping very well.'

'Still? Hermione this has been going on for a long time.'

'Only for a month mum.

'A month is a long time to be tired for, especially now you're working five days a week. I take it you can't sleep because of Ron?' Hermione nods silently. 'There's still no change then?'

'No, he's still unconscious. I know he's lazy but this is ridiculous!' she said, trying to bring a bit of humour to the conversation. Her mum smiled.

'He'll wake up when he's ready Hermione, you just have to try and stay positive until he does. I know that's easier said than done, but you have to try.'

'I am trying mum, it's just hard sometimes. I miss him.'

'I know you do my darling, is there anything me or your dad can do?'

'No, nothing, that's the annoying thing, apparently no one can do anything. Oh, but Molly's invited you and dad to dinner on Friday night if you want to. The whole Weasley clan will be there and Harry and me and you and dad if you come.'

'That's a lot of people Hermione, are you sure it won't be too much trouble for her?'

'Mum there'll be at least ten people there, two more is hardly going to make a difference.'

'Yes but still-'

'Mum, I know you find it strange being around wizards but it'll get easier the more you do it, and you won't find a family more accepting or caring than the Weasleys, believe me.' Hermione looked at her mum knowing the anxiety she was feeling, because it was the same sort she felt on the same day of school. Her mum and dad didn't really revel in new and alien situations, and this was about as alien as things got. 'Please come mum, I want you both there, and besides, you can't deprive Mr. Weasley of an explanation of how the postal system works now can you?' her mum laughed.

'No, I suppose not. We'll be there Hermione.'

'Thanks mum, it means a lot.'

'Do we need to bring anything?'

'Molly demanded we don't but I'll be taking a bottle of wine so it's up to you really.'

'Ok, we'll do the same. What time are we expected?'

'Seven I think. Do you want to go by floo or do you want to apparate with me?'

'Is there a third option?' her mum asked. She had experienced both and wasn't keen on either of the wizarding ways to travel. Hermione laughed.

'No mum, I'm not setting up a portkey for one dinner and they've outlawed flying carpets I'm afraid! It'll probably be easier if we apparate, and there'll be no ash to wipe off your clothes either.

'Ok, I suppose that's something else I'll have to get used to.'

'Yes you will,' Hermione replied with a smile on her face. She stands up and puts her bag on her shoulder. 'I've got to go mum, I should be visiting Ron and I need something to eat before I go back to work.'

'Ok then, oh wait, your dad's been sorting out the loft and has left some boxes in your room for you to look through and see if anything can be thrown out or given to charity.'

'Oh, ok.'

'Do you want to sort them here or take them to your house to do it?'

'I'll do it here, it's easier than carting them to and fro. I could come back tonight and do it. Would that be ok?'

'Of course it would Hermione, you know you can come here anytime and stay for as long as you want.'

'I know mum.' Her mum stood up and gave her daughter a goodbye and a kiss.

'I'll see you later then.'

'See you later,' Hermione pulled away from her mum and turned on the spot disappearing from her mum's sight. Hermione's parents had finally got used to the idea that their daughter was a witch but it still amazed them to see her mend broken objects, unlock doors and conjure things using her wand alone, let alone disappear in front of their eyes. But that she did, and often too.


	6. Chapter 6 Heart's Desire

**Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters, spells or place names in this fic, they belong to JK Rowling, only the plot is mine.**

**Well, here's chapter 6, quite long again, but there was no sensible place to break it up. Hope you like it. I've caught up with myself writing/typing wise so it might be a bit longer for the next update, but i've still got loads of ideas to carry through for the near future so it should keep coming thick and fast. Please R&R. :)**

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Chapter 6

Hermione appeared behind a strategically placed bin, opposite the solid glass she was about to walk through to gain entry to St. Mungo's Hospital of Magical Maladies and Injuries. She moved up to the glass and whispered to the plastic dummy in the window.

'Hermione Granger to see Ronald Weasley.' The dummy nodded her head a fraction and Hermione stepped up to walk through the glass. When she materialised in the reception of the hospital she took her usual route through the many corridors before taking the stairs to the permanent residence wards on level four.

As she opened the door to the ward she smiled at Healer Thompson as she walked past him.

'Good afternoon Hermione,' he said, a smile edging on to his face as he did so.

'Good afternoon Healer Thompson, how are you today?'

'Oh can't complain Hermione, can't complain.'

'Any change?' she asked. It was the question she asked everyday and the answer she received everyday came to her again.

'No, I'm afraid not,' Healer Thompson replied. He hated not having anything else to tell the young witch, but working in the ward he did, it was very rare that he got to give relatives news of a happy nature.

'Ok, thank you,' Hermione replied, as she walked through the ward towards Ron's bed. The curtains around his bed were half drawn.

As Hermione walked up to him, she saw the sun was streaked across his face making his skin look paler but his freckles more prominent. She moved next to the bed, and saw that Ron's fringe was crooked, knowing he would hate her moving it, she straightened the hair and stroked his cheek.

'Hey sexy,' she said quietly, 'how are you today?' It wasn't a greeting she used in front of other people; it was for Ron and Ron only. 'I'm ok, a bit tired, I couldn't sleep last night but neither could Harry so we helped each other get there eventually, hasn't stopped me from being tired all morning though. Answer me this Ronald, why is it always you who causes me to lose sleep? In our fourth year at school after the Yule Ball I lay awake for hours thinking about you. Then in sixth year when you went off with Lavender all I could think about was why you weren't with me. I laid awake for hours then too. And now here we are, no longer at school, no longer at war, but I still lie awake at night thinking about you. I hope you're dreaming about me. If you are I hope I'm good company for you.'

When Hermione had first started visiting Ron she found it hard to talk to him, she was very self conscious about it, and still very angry with Ron and herself for letting this happen. After Ron had been transferred to St. Mungo's on that fateful night she managed to get a vague explanation of what happened to the both of them.

Hermione had seen Ron apparate back to HQ with Mad-Eye Moody leaning heavily on him. As Ron disappeared from sight, the spell that had been sent at them by a Death Eater had instead headed straight for her. Reacting without thinking she performed a shield charm and the spell rebounded off her temporary shield and set fire to a nearby hedge.

'EXPELLIARMUS!' she screamed and the Death Eaters wand left his hand and landed at Hermione's feet.

'STUPEFY!' she shouted, at the same time stamping on the wand snapping it in two. The simple but effective spell did its job; the Death Eater fell forward and landed with a thud on the ground. She took three paces forward.

'Incarcerous,' she said and ropes flew out of her wand binding the arms and the legs of the Death Eater together. She knelt down and had a quick look around her, trying her best to see in the dark. Before she had chance to take in the scene, two wizards, duelling as fast as she had ever seen, came towards her. She stood up to move out of the way of the Death Eater who was retreating too fast towards her. She heard the wizard who was duelling the Death Eater shout the stunning curse. It hit the Death Eater square on the chest and he fell backwards at speed knocking Hermione to the ground as he did so. As she was falling, Hermione didn't see the jagged rock on the ground, but she felt it hit the side of her head as she landed, taking her consciousness from her.

The hours after she woke up were the most hectic she had ever experienced. When she was being seen to by a Mediwitch at St. Mungo's after things had settled down, she was embarrassed to admit that with all the spells and magic flying through the air, she had managed to miss them all only to be knocked out cold by a rock on the ground.

She had been told that Ron apparated back to the battle and found her on the floor. He hadn't believed her to be dead, he could have been told by a Healer there and then that she was dead and he wouldn't have believed it. It was as he was kneeling over Hermione trying to wake her that he had been hit in the back and the chest by spells from two different Death Eaters. One, the other, or a mixture of the two caused him to fall unconscious. No one had seen Ron get hit and even if they had, the spells had been performed non-verbally meaning that the Healers, and before them, members of the Order of the Phoenix were working blind when it came to trying to revive him.

Hermione looked up at the small chest of drawers next to Ron's bed and saw the Daily Prophet sat on it with a piece of parchment laid neatly on top. She moved to the other side of the bed and picked it up, sitting on the edge of the bed as she did so. Instantly she recognised Harry's handwriting and she smiled.

_H,_

_I've read Ron the Quidditch results so you don't have to. I know you'll be mortified at that! He he!_

She smiled, as much as she tried, she couldn't sound enthusiastic when it came to reading out the endless list of Quidditch scores.

_I managed to get some dress robes, they're dark red, which I'm not convinced about but I'll see what you think later on. I'll be back here at five._

_Have a good afternoon._

_Love from_

_Saviour Boy!_

Hermione laughed when she read the last line of the note. She folded it and put it in her pocket picking up the newspaper as she did so. She unfolded it and glanced at the headline, apparently one of the head goblins at Gringotts was retiring. She had a quick flick through the rest of the paper and when she didn't find anything of interest to read to Ron placed it back on the chest of drawers.

'Well Ron, thankfully Harry has spared me reading you the Quidditch scores, which I'm obviously very upset about,' she said with a smile. 'He'll be back later on after work, as I will too.' Hermione checked her watch and read twenty-five to one.

'Right, well I'm just going upstairs to get something to eat. I'll be back in a few minutes ok?' She took her purse from her bag and walked along the ward to the double doors. She opened them and carried on up the stairs to the fifth floor and the canteen. Whilst hospital food wasn't the best in the world it was faster and easier than finding a muggle shop to buy something from. Sometimes she made her own lunch but last night she had completely forgotten.

She walked through the canteen looking at the shelves, stands and chill cabinets as she did so. Nothing instantly took her fancy and she wasn't feeling very hungry so she took a bar of Honeyduke's milk chocolate, a packet of crisps and a bottle of pumpkin juice. She walked up to the till and placed her unbalanced lunch on the counter.

The witch behind the till was elderly, with glasses on a string and greying hair. She had taken it upon herself to make sure Hermione was keeping well and eating properly when she ate at the hospital.

'Hermione Granger, I pray to Merlin that isn't your lunch,' the elder witch said with a frown on her face.

'I'm afraid it is Grace, I'm not very hungry and I need all the sugar I can get. I didn't sleep well last night.'

'But Hermione you have to have a proper lunch, you have the rest of the day to get through. You won't be able to concentrate at work if you don't eat properly.'

'I know but I can't face anything else, I promise I'll eat properly at dinner.'

'Well make sure you do,' Grace replied as she started adding up the total of Hermione's lunch. 'Has there been any change?' Grace asked, not expecting to hear that there had.'

'No, he's still being lazy I'm afraid.' Grace smiled.

'That's two sickles please love,' the elder witch said. Hermione got the money out of her purse and handed it to Grace. 'Thank you dear, have a good day and make sure you have a proper dinner.'

'I will Grace. See you soon.'

'Bye dear.'

Hermione turned around and walked to one of the tables. She sat down and put her foot on the table. She opened the packet of crisps and laid it on the table. She rested her head in her left hand and ate her crisps with her right. The minutes ticked slowly by as she ate, occasionally taking a drink from the bottle she had bought.

She got up from the table and walked from the canteen, down the stairs and back through the ward to Ron's bed. When she got there the curtains were drawn and she could hear voices behind them. She pulled them back and what she saw took her by surprise. All the Weasleys were there and Harry too. Ron was sat up in bed. He turned to look at Hermione and when he did she gasped at his piercing stare. His face broke into a cheeky grin and he reached out and took her hand in his.

'Hermione,' he said, the smile on his face widening.

'Ron,' she said, it coming out as a whisper.

'Hermione,' he said again, this time louder.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and felt it begin to shake her gently.

Her eyes snapped open and came into focus slowly. She looked around and saw Grace at her side. Realisation hit her. A slight sadness crept into her heart when she realised her dreams weren't true.

'Grace, how long have I been asleep?' Hermione asked.

'Only ten minutes love, I thought I'd wake you before you were late for work.'

A slight panic rose inside Hermione, she pulled her jacket sleeve up and looked at the time. It was five to one. If there was one thing she hated it was tardiness. Thankfully five minutes was plenty of time to say goodbye to Ron and still get to work on time.

'Thank you Grace, I can't believe I fell asleep,' she stood up and hastily finished off the rest of her crisps. She pocketed the chocolate and picked up her drink.

'Be careful at work Hermione, it's hazardous enough training to be an auror, never mind when you're tired.'

'I will Grace, thanks again. See you later.'

She picked up her empty crisp packet and walked towards the canteen doors. She threw the rubbish in the bin as she left and then took the stairs two at a time. She walked as fast as she could through the ward and found Ron exactly as she had left him, the only difference being the position of he sunlight on his face.

'I'm sorry I was so long darling; I fell asleep in the canteen. How embarrassing! I've got to go back to work now. I'll see you later on.' She bent down and kissed him, stroking his face with her thumb. 'Sweet dreams.'

She picked up her bag off the floor, walked out of the ward and the hospital, and apparated back to work.


	7. Chapter 7 Old Habits

Chapter 7

Hermione appeared for the second time today in the atrium at the Ministry of Magic. She hurried towards the far end, past the fountain of magical brethren to the golden gates. Luckily there was a lift waiting at the end of the corridor, she ran inside and pressed the small number two on the wall. The lift door closed and moved uninterrupted up to the Auror department. The door opened and she traced the same path that she did this morning, except this time she walked into a room on the right hand side of the corridor.

The rest of the class were there but their tutor was not. This afternoon's lesson was duelling practice. As she walked in the room she was greeted by a beaming smile from the person she knew the most in her group, Colin Creevey. Colin and his brother Dennis had managed to persuade their dad to let them go back to school. Colin had just left the school of Witchcraft and Wizardry and had, somehow, through all the chaos of the last two months managed to achieve top grades in his NEWTs. His brother Dennis was going to start his sixth year in September having achieved eight OWLs.

'Hi Hermione.'

'Hi Colin,' she replied.

'I missed you earlier, you disappeared at lunch before I could say hello.'

'I know, I'm sorry, I had some stuff to do before I went to see Ron.'

'That's ok, how's Harry?' Hermione smiled, whilst Colin's obsession with Harry was annoying at school it just made Hermione laugh now. The eighteen-year-old Colin had grown up and understood how annoying he was when he followed Harry around at school. He was much better now though, and only let himself ask how Harry was every few days. Today was, apparently, one of those days.

'He's fine Colin.'

'Oh good, are you ok?'

'Yeah I'm fi-' her sentence was cut short with a yawn that felt like it was going to dislocate her jaw. Colin raised his eyebrows at her. 'Hmmm, yeah I'm fine, if a little tired.'

'No offence, but you look it.'

'None taken because I know, you can't have four and a half hours sleep and look good off it.'

'No you can't,' He looked up as their tutor walked in, 'look do you want to be partners for duelling practice? I could use some of your expertise.'

'It's hardly expertise Colin; I learnt most of it from Harry. So did you come to think of it.'

'Yeah I suppose we did, so do you want to pair up?'

'Yeah, sure.'

She put her bag, which she was still holding, on the floor at the side of the room, and took her jacket off ready to begin the lesson. As her jacket landed on her bag Kingsley Shacklebolt closed the door.

'Afternoon everyone,' Kingsley said, smiling at Colin and Hermione as he did so.

'Hi Kingsley,' said Colin.

'Afternoon Kingsley,' replied Hermione.

'Is this the group of six or seven?' Kingsley asked the class as he put his shoulder bag down and rolled up his sleeves.

'Seven,' Hermione replied.

'Ok then, in which case we'll have two pairs and a group of three. Line up opposite your partners with your wands out.'

Hermione moved towards the opposite wall and turned to face Colin. The other did the same. Michaela and Euan faced each other; apparently the fact that they were going out didn't stop them being able to practice throwing spells at each other. Jay, Cairo and Marcus were the remaining three, Cairo stood on the same side as Hermione, and Jay and Marcus the same side as Colin.

'Right, today we're going to concentrate on your reaction times when it comes to getting your wand ready.' Kingsley explained, 'Firstly we're not going to use spells, one of you will shout 'go' and the other will get into duelling stance as fast as possible. Don't just do it facing your partner, turn your back on them, sit on the floor, stand on your head if you want to; if someone's going to attack you chances are they aren't going to wait patiently whilst you get yourself ready. If you want to make it harder for yourself then put your wand in your pocket or somewhere close to you, not too far away though, we don't need you charging up and down the room. Any questions?' The class collectively shook their heads. 'Good, do it ten times then swap, and remember, no spells.'

Colin smiled at Hermione.

'Do you want to shout or react first?'

'I'll shout first if that's ok.'

'Yeah fine. I'll start face on for the first one, get warmed up!' Hermione smiled.

'Ok, ready?'

'Yep, go for it.'

'How's Dennis by the way?'

'He's fine why?' Colin asked, slightly confused.

'I just wondered. What year's he going into in September?' Hermione asked.

'Sixth, he's starting-'

'GO!' Hermione shouted.

As quick as he could Colin threw his right arm forward brandishing his wand, at the same time stepping forward on his right foot. His look of concentration faded into a smile.

'That was sneaky,' he said.

'Yes well I can't be making things to easy for you now, can I?' Hermione replied with a sneaky smile. 'Are you doing the next one facing me or not?'

'No, I'll sit facing the wall for this one.' He turned and sat down, and placed his wand an arms length away,

'Ready?' asked Hermione.

'Ready,' replied Colin.

In contrast to the previous exercise Hermione stayed quiet. She hoped that the shouts from the other in the group would confuse Colin. He didn't move though, even when Michaela shouted a very loud 'GO!' next to him. After thirty more second Hermione shouted 'GO!'

Colin knelt up, at the same time grabbing his wand and spun round on his knees to face Hermione, wand arm outstretched.

'How was that?' he asked Hermione.

'It was good. Considering you were in an awkward position, you were fast into duelling position and you weren't put off by the rest of the shouts of the others.' He smiled at the compliment.

Colin did well in the rest of his practices and then it was Hermione's turn to react.

'GO!' shouted Colin. Instantaneously Hermione spun round to face the young wizard, her wand making a whipping sound as it moved through the air. As she came to a halt Colin's eyebrows moved towards his hairline.

'Merlin, that was fast!' Colin said slightly amazed.

'Why thank you Colin,' she replied with a smile.

'No seriously, that was _really_ fast.'

'Well, if there's one thing that fighting in a war will do, it'll make you fast at getting your wand ready.'

'Yeah I suppose it will. This time sit with your legs crossed facing the wall with your wand on your left hand side, but you have to put it in your right hand.' Hermione smiled.

'That's a bit harsh Colin.'

'Like you need any practice at starting with you wand in your hand!' he exclaimed.

'Ok fine, I'll do it that way,' she conceded. She turned and sat down and put her wand on her left hand side. She stared at a spot on the wall and managed to put her mind into a bubble, which only Colin's voice could penetrate. She concentrated hard.

'GO!' shouted Colin. Hermione made a grab for her wand and spun around on her knees. Before she could stop herself she performed the disarming spell non-verbally. Colin's wand flew out of his hand and landed in front of Hermione.

'Err, oops!' Hermione said, 'Sorry Colin, old habits die hard.'

'That's err, that's ok, Hermione. I'll just be glad you didn't stun me.' He said, ending his sentence with a smile. Hermione stood up and pulled her jeans down as they had risen up when she sat down.

'Still, I'm sorry. I promise I won't do it again.'

'Stop apologising, you ready to go again?'

'Yeah sure.' Hermione kept her word and didn't disarm Colin again throughout her practice.

After they had practiced without spells, they moved on to disarming. The exercise was the same but this time they were to do what Hermione accidentally did earlier and non-verbally perform the disarming spell. After that they changed to reacting to defend yourself. One person would send a spell at the other speaking the incantation to start with to make it easier and the other person had to produce the shield charm.

Both Hermione and Colin did well and before they knew it Kingsley was telling them the lesson was over and they were free to go. Hermione put her jacket on and her wand in her bag.

'See you next week everyone,' Kingsley said as he left the room.

'Bye Kingsley,' Hermione said turning towards the door as she did so.

'Hermione wait!' a voice behind her called. She spun around and saw Cairo coming towards her.

'Hey Cairo.'

'Hi, look I just wanted to let you know that I'm having a kind of wind down party after the ball next week. It finishes at twelve, which seems a bit early so everyone's welcome back to mine to carry on partying, if they want to that is.'

'Oh right, well thanks for the invite but I'm still not sure if I'm going yet.'

'Oh, why not?' asked Cairo innocently.

'Well, I…I've err…' Cairo stopped her, looking slightly embarrassed.

'Sorry, it's none of my business. I didn't mean to pry.'

'I know you didn't, it's just with Ron not being…you know…I didn't really see the point of going, It might be a bit hard.'

'I understand, but it might be good for you, might let you forget about it all. I don't mean forget about Ron, I know you'd never do that. I meant-'

'Cairo it's ok,' Hermione said with an understanding smile, 'I know what you meant, don't worry about it. I'll think about going, Harry'll probably drag me along with him whether I want to go or not!' Cairo smiled.

'Ok, will you let Harry know about the party for me? I've got messengers in the other groups but I want to make sure everyone knows. I don't want anyone left out.'

'I will do. I'll see you tomorrow in class?' she asked.

'Yeah, see you then. Bye Hermione, Colin.'

'Bye Cairo,' Colin answered.

Hermione and Colin walked through the corridor to the lift, pressed the button and waited for one to arrive.

'So what are you doing for the rest of the day?' Hermione asked Colin.

'Well I promised Dennis I'd play Quidditch with him tonight. He got on to the Gryffindor team last year as a beater and he's been hounding me to help him practice during the holidays. I throw tennis balls at him and he hits them as hard as he can. It's annoying how far he can hit them as I've got to retrieve them.'

Hermione laughed.

'I can imagine.'

'What are you doing tonight?'

'Well I was going to go and visit Ron now but I think I'll go and write today's work up for an hour, 'cause I won't have time later on. My mum and dad have been clearing out the loft and I have boxes to sort.'

'Ooo that sounds like fun,' Colin said, the sarcasm in his voice obvious.

'Doesn't it just. I could be there for hours. Hopefully Harry'll come and help me.'

'Yeah good luck with that one.'

The lift arrived and twenty seconds later they were in the atrium.

'Well, have fun playing Quidditch Colin, see you tomorrow.'

'See you tomorrow Hermione.'

They both turned on the spot and disappeared form sight.


	8. Chapter 8 Another Visit

**Disclaimer - Only the plot is mine the characters aren't (unfortunately!)**

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, keep them coming please. This one kind of continues into chapter 9 so ends a bit abruptly. Chapter9 is nearly finished so it won't be long till it's up. Hope you like this one though. ;)**

**Step**

Chapter 8

Hermione arrived back at her flat to find it almost as she had left it this morning. The breakfast things had been washed and put away by Harry, and a pile of letters – all for her green-eyed flatmate – were unopened on the kitchen table, left to be read later on. She put the kettle on to boil and put a teaspoon of instant coffee granules in her favourite mug. She walked through to the lounge and switched on the television. It being three o'clock, children's TV had just started on most of the channels. She switched it off and pulled her notes out of her bag

As she finished writing the title of today's lecture she heard the click of the kettle, telling her the water had boiled. She stood up and walked to the kitchen, noticing one of Harry's letters had very girly writing on it as she passed the pile. She made her coffee and took it back into the lounge placing it on the coffee table before she took her previous seat on the sofa.

She had discovered within the first few weeks at the school of Witchcraft and Wizardry that she learned things a lot quicker if she re-read and re-wrote her notes soon after she had been presented with them. The sooner things were transferred into her long-term memory the better; it certainly made revision slightly less stressful.

It took her three quarters of an hour for Hermione to write all her notes out and when she'd finished she went upstairs and changed her t-shirt for a fresh one and one that was a bit more interesting to look at. Because her room was south facing it had been drenched in sunlight all day and it was like walking into a wall of heat when she entered.

She changed her top and decided it was warm enough to put her flip-flops on instead of her trainers. She went back downstairs and checked that all the doors were still locked from the inside, something that – ashamedly – tended to slip hers and Harry's memory now they apparated everywhere, and were responsible for their own house, not having anyone else to remember for them. When she found that they were still locked she apparated to the hospital for – like so many other days – the second time.

The ward was unchanged from the last time Hermione was there, except this time there was someone sat next to Ron's bed with shoulder length red hair and dark brown eyes. Hermione smiled as she saw her best friend. It had been a while since she had seen her, with the both of them training in their chosen field of work they were both often busy and tired.

'Ginny!' Hermione said as she moved next to her friend. Ginny looked up from the copy of the Prophet that Harry had left earlier and beamed.

'Hermione!' Ginny stood putting the paper on Ron's bed. The two of them hugged. When they pulled apart Ginny conjured another chair for Hermione next to her own. Before Hermione sat in it, she walked to the top end of the bed and gave Ron a hello kiss.

'Good afternoon Ronald, I'm glad to see you haven't strained yourself whilst I've been away.' Ginny laughed at Hermione's comments. The older witch sat down on the newly made chair.

'So how've you been Gin?'

'Not bad, training's mad though. I knew healing was hard but this is just insane!'

'I can imagine. When I was little I wanted to be a doctor, I didn't think of doing anything else, until I got my letter that is, then I had no idea whatsoever!' Ginny laughed.

'When did you figure out what you wanted to do?'

'About a month ago! Whilst the war was raging I didn't like to plan too far ahead, anything could have happened and I wanted to be as commitment free as possible. Well, apart from this one,' she nodded her head towards Ron.

'That seems sensible enough. So how have you been?' Ginny asked.

'Fine really, I'm still not sleeping though.'

'How long haven't you been sleeping properly?'

'To be honest I don't think I've had a proper night's sleep since the war started but it's been pretty bad for over a month now.''

'Why don't you take a sleeping draught?'

'I've thought about it but I just wanted to try without one, I might start needing one soon though.'

'There aren't any side-effects to them if that's what you're worried about, and the odd one isn't going to do any harm, believe me. I took enough of the stuff this past year with you three off on Harry's hero mission, _and_ I had my NEWTs to contend with. Do you want me to brew you some up?'

'Are you sure you aren't too busy?'

'Not so busy that I can't help my best friend out.'

'Well, if you're sure,' Hermione said with an appreciative smile.

'Absolutely positive. So what are you up to tonight?' Ginny asked.

'Well, I went home earlier to see mum and apparently dad's been clearing out the loft which has quite a lot of my old stuff in it, and he wants me to sort through it, see which stuff can be thrown, which can be given to charity and which I want to keep. It could take hours?'

'Yeah it could on your own. Do you want any help? Me and Harry were just going to have a lazy evening in so we can help if you want.'

'You seriously don't mind 'cause that'd be a huge help. But I don't want to ruin your evening with Harry.'

'Hermione, you know I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want to, and besides, this way I might get to see some embarrassing photos of you growing up!'

'Oh please don't mention photos in front of my dad, we have thousands and you won't escape for weeks! Comes with the territory of being an only child I'm afraid.

'Merlin, I can't even imagine!'

'I'm not surprised. Oh, by the way my mum said they can come to the Burrow on Friday for dinner.'

'That's great, mum'll be pleased and dad'll be ecstatic!' Hermione laughed.

'Well to be fair my dad will probably ask as many questions about the wizarding world as your dad will about muggles.'

'We'll just have to make sure they're sat next to each other at dinner, that way they won't be interrupted.'

'Yes we will.'

'Do you know if anyone else is visiting tonight?' Hermione asked Ginny.

'I don't know actually. Mum will be here at five as always. You know, I'm sure that's to check up on you as much as Ron. She knows you're here at five regardless of whether you're in work at nine or eleven, so she knows she'll catch you.'

'I know, I don't mind at all though. You've all become family to me.'

'Well I can safely say you are to all of us, well maybe not Ron, 'cause that'd be weird, but I can definitely say he loves you in very non-brotherly ways!' Hermione laughed.

'You know that's how Harry realised he was falling for you; he kept wanting to do very non-brotherly things to you. He told himself his jealousy of Dean Thomas was an older brother's protection of you when he was blatantly wishing he could have been in his place.'

'Aww bless him, if only he'd realised earlier.'

'You think _you_ had problems?' she asked Ginny, looking at Ron as she did.

'Yeah ok,' Ginny said with a smile, 'you know, when we were at school I just wanted to slap him sometimes and tell him to stop being so thick when it came to you.' Hermione smiled.

'Well, the four of us got there in the end.'

We did indee-' Ginny stopped at Hermione's sudden movement. She had suddenly turned her head to face Ron as fast as she could without breaking her neck. She stared at Ron's face not knowing whether she imagined or actually saw his eyes open and close.

'Hermione?' Ginny said trying to get the attention of her friend. 'Hermione what's wrong?'

Hermione stayed still, and continued to look at Ron.

'Hermione!' Ginny said louder. Hermione blinked and turned slightly towards Ginny.

'I…I thought I saw his eyes open.'

Ginny sighed, slightly relieved.

'It was probably just a shadow from outside that made you think that. I used to do it all the time. Every time a bird flew past the window and made a shadow on his face I thought he was waking up.'

'Mmm,' Hermione agreed. She leaned forward and rested her chin on her hands, her knees supporting her elbows. Her eyes were on level with Ron's. She focused on his eyelashes and remembered the last time they spoke properly, her left fingers subconsciously feeling for the silver band on her right hand.


	9. Chapter 9 Te Amo

**A/N - This one's a bit soppy but I had fun writing it:) Sorry bout the confusion of the ships in the fic. Hopefully it's all sorted now. Please read and review, much appreciated.**

Chapter 9

The night before the final battle Harry, Ron and Hermione were in Grimmauld place. They didn't know at the time that tomorrow would be the fateful day when good clashed with evil in the form of Harry and Voldemort; they knew, however, that the battle was imminent.

Harry was downstairs in the kitchen going over plans and tactics, diversions and evacuations sites. Hermione had had enough, as had Ron, so they were upstairs in Hermione's room, trying to relax.

Hermione was led on her bed, turned slightly towards Ron who was led next to her, propped up on his elbow. Hermione's eyes were closed but she wasn't asleep. She felt Ron move slightly and then felt him put the stray strands of hair that were falling into her eyes back behind her ear. His hand stayed resting on her hair, his thumb stroking her face. She breathed in deeply, relaxing at his touch. His hand moved and she felt him stroke her eyelashes. She smiled.

'I still don't understand why you like doing that,' Hermione said quietly.

'I don't know myself really, but it shows you trust me,' he replied.

'How does it show that?' she said, her eyes still closed and her eyelashes still being stroked by Ron.

'Well you only let people you really trust near your face or your eyes. If you think someone's gonna poke you in the eye you aren't gonna let them near you are you?' Hermione smiled.

'No I suppose you're not.' Ron moved his hand away from over her face and took her hand in his. She opened her eyes and looked into his. Ron's face suddenly became serious and he sat up crossed-legged facing her.

'What?' she asked, panicking ever so slightly.

'Just stay here, I'll be back in a minute.'

'Ron wha-'

'Just stay there or I'll hex you,' he replied with a smile. She relaxes and laid back down on the bed, having sat up as Ron left the room.

Ron returned a minute later, carrying something in his hand. Hermione sat up as he entered. He sat on the edge of the bed and took her right hand in his left.

'Hermione,' he paused, trying to figure out the best way to say what he wanted, 'Hermione, no one knows what's going to happen in the next few days. Anything could happen and I need you to know some things in case anything happens to be or, Merlin forbid, you. I need you to know that I think you're the most beautiful, the most intelligent, and the most caring person I know, and most importantly you're my best friend as well as my girlfriend. I couldn't ask for anything more.

'I…I've always felt embarrassed saying stuff like this…but at the minute there's nothing more important than me telling you how I feel,' he takes a deep breath and looks directly into her eyes. 'I've fallen in love with you Hermione Granger and I can't see there being anything that's gonna change that. I want you to have this, I got it when I went to see Fred and George in Diagon Alley last week.'

He took the box from behind his back and opened it so she could see what was inside. The box contained a ring, a solid silver band with the words '_te amo'_ engraved on the inside. Ron took it out of the box and took Hermione's right hand.

'It's been enchanted with a spell that kind of records the way I feel about you, so that when you say the spell _'sensus salvus'_ and you're wearing it you can feel how I feel about you. At these words Hermione couldn't keep her tears in anyone. As one escaped her eye, Ron placed the ring on her third finger on her right hand. He leaned forward and kissed her softly. When he pulled back her eyes didn't leave his.

'Ron, I…I don't know what to say. The ring is beautiful and the way I can feel how you feel, is just,' she pauses, searching for a word to express how she felt; she couldn't find one good enough, 'there aren't any words I can say to let you know how much this means to me, and I hope you knew before now that I'm in love with you too.' Ron beamed.

'I had a good idea.'

'Good, and whatever happens, if we survive everything. I'll always be there for you, every single day, ok?'

'Same here.'

'I love you Ronald Weasley.'

'I love you too Hermione Granger.' They moved together and kissed once again, before holding onto each other in a hug as if their lives depended on it. After a couple of minutes they both changed into their pyjamas and climbed into bed. As they fell asleep they held each other, and not until they woke up the next morning did they let go.

'Hermione?'

The friendly voice reached her brain and she blinked bringing her eyes back into focus.

'Hermione, are you ok? You've been in a dream world for a couple of minutes.'

'Erm, yeah I'm fine,' she replies, 'sorry I was just thinking about…' she looked at the ring on her finger, 'you know Ron bought me this?' she asked Ginny.

'Actually I didn't. I knew it was new but I've only seen it a couple of times and I've not got round to asking you about it.'

'Well Ron gave it to me the night before the final battle. We didn't know it was going to be the next day but it was. It was the first time he told me he was in love with me, and as it happens it was the first time I told him the same. I'd known for a while but I didn't want to say it because I didn't want to put him under any pressure to say something he wasn't comfortable saying, so I kept quiet. I was so happy when he said it and then he gave me this,' she took the ring off her finger and gave it to Ginny.

'Te amo,' the younger witch said as she read the inscription, 'wow, I didn't know Ron had that much romance in him.'

'Well that's not all; it's bewitched too. He kind of recorded the way he felt about me in it. If I'm wearing it and say 'sensus salvus' then I can feel the way he did.'

Ginny looked taken aback by the effort Ron had put into his present.

'_Ron_ did this?' she asked. Hermione smiled. With Ron's past form when it came to feelings it had come as a shock to her as well. Her smile turned serious.

'I get angry with myself sometimes, 'cause if he hadn't said anything that night then neither would I and he wouldn't know how I felt.'

'Oh Hermione, he knew how you felt; every time you looked at him you said it in your eyes. Even Ron couldn't ignore that.'

'Yeah but, why do we always wait to tell people how we feel? We always presume that we'll have tomorrow to do things and get things sorted, but one day we won't,' she fell silent, willing herself not to cry for the second time that day. She failed, tears spilled from her eyes.

Ginny moved her chair next to Hermione's and put her arm around her friend.

'Oh Hermione don't cry. At the end of the day you _did_ tell him how you feel, and when he wakes up, 'cause he will wake up, you can tell him everyday, and he can do the same to you,' Hermione smiled, 'and then you can get married and live happily ever after!' Ginny ended with a grin.

'Merlin if it's not Harry marrying us off it's you! Is there something in the water?'

'No, but I am putting my name forward as chief bridesmaid in advance, before anyone else does!'

Hermione laughed.

'Yeah ok, but only if I'm yours.'

'Deal!'

'Just please don't mention the whole wedding theme to your mum, it's bad enough with you and Harry just joking about it but-'

'Hermione let me stop you there,' Ginny interrupted, 'do you honestly think that as soon as mum knew you and Ron were officially together she didn't start mentally thinking about the two of you getting married, thinking about what colours you might like, how many bridesmaids and page boys there'd be?'

'Oh Merlin above! _Fine_ just no more talk about wedding's around Ron please. As I told Harry, he'll stay asleep forever 'cause he'll be convinced he's walking down an aisle as soon as he does!'

Ginny laughed.

'Ok, promise.'

Hermione stood up.

'I think I'll go and freshen up before anyone else arrives. I'll be back in a minute.'

'Ok, be careful.'

Hermione looked at Ginny in a puzzled way.

'Be careful? Ginny I'm going to the toilet and coming back again, what could possibly go wrong?'

'Yeah ok, I just got so used to saying it every time I said goodbye to someone, I guess some habits take a long time to get rid of.'

'Don't I know it!' Ginny looked at her questioningly, 'I'll tell you when I get back.' She moved past Ginny's chair and left the ward.

* * *

**Chapter 10's on its way but I still need to read it through before I post it. Shouldn't be too long. Please review this chapter.**

**Step ;)**


	10. Chapter 10 Dinnertime Drama

Chapter 10

When she came back through the double doors she saw her housemate giving his girlfriend a kiss hello. He moved to sit in the chair Hermione had been sat in, but was waved out of it by Ginny, so he conjured himself one on her other side and flopped into it. Hermione giggled to herself. Harry turned towards her when he heard her footsteps.

'Hey Hermione, how are ya?'

'I'm fine thanks saviour boy. How was your day?'

He looked at her, trying to look offended but was beaten by the smile that appeared on his face.

'Saviour boy?' Ginny asked.

'Yes, darling Hermione has come up with a new nickname for me,' Harry replied.

'I think it suits him, don't you think Gin?'

'Actually I agree,' replied Ginny. Harry turned to face her, his eyebrows raised, 'it goes with the cheeky face and messy hair, very fitting!'

'Thank you, _sweetheart!'_ Harry said sarcastically.

'So how _was_ your day Harry?' Hermione asked again.

'It was ok, we had a question and answer session on potions which I didn't enjoy, and the rest was just lectures and note taking, pretty boring really. How was yours?'

'Well we had lectures this morning, then duelling this afternoon with Kingsley. I scared Colin during practice though.'

'How?' asked Ginny.

'Well, we were practicing getting into duelling stance as fast as possible, and I was concentrating that hard that I automatically disarmed him when I faced him.'

Harry laughed.

'I take it you weren't supposed to be using spells.'

'No, not until later.'

'Ah well, I'm sure he didn't mind.

'No I don't think he did after he got over the shock.'

Harry turned towards Ginny.

'Are you having tea with us tonight? He asked.

'Are you cooking?' Ginny asked innocently.

'No, I can't be arsed.'

'In which case yes!' Ginny replied with a smile. Hermione laughed as Harry tried and failed again to look offended.

'I thought we could get pizza from Boulevards.'

'That very small, very suspicious looking muggle pizza place?' Ginny asked.

'The very same,' Harry noted Ginny's attempt to hide her not-so-convinced face, 'it's not that bad, and the food's great.'

'I didn't say anything!' Ginny retorted shrilly.

'You didn't have to, I could tell you were fighting to suppress the urge to shudder at the thought of going near the place!'

Hermione laughed, she knew Harry was right.

'Ok ok, I admit I'm not a huge fan of the place, but the food is ok and none of us has contracted food poisoning from there yet, so yes, I'll join you for tea. Oh, and we're helping Hermione sort some stuff out at her house later.'

'Only if you want to, I don't want to ruin anything you had planned.' Hermione said before Harry could respond.

'Hermione, I've told you we don't mind, do we Harry?'

'No, not at all, what are we sorting?' he asked.

'Just some of my old stuff that was being stored in the loft, dad wants me to look through it and see what can be thrown out.'

'So is it like your old school stuff and things from your childhood.' Harry asked.

'Erm, Hermione said, trying to visualise what she last remembered being up there, 'yeah I think so. Old toys and games, school books and so on.'

'Excellent we get to see what hidden secrets the first eleven years of Hermione Granger's life hold!'

Ginny and Hermione laughed.

'I said I wanted to see some photos of her growing up!' Ginny said.

'And _I_ said please don't get my dad started on photos if you want to leave tonight.'

'Only child syndrome?' asked Harry knowingly.

'Big style,' Hermione replied.

'My aunt and uncle were the same with Dudley but I never understood why they wanted to take photos of him!' Hermione smiled.

'You sure you don't mind then?'

'No, sounds like fun actually. Plus it might help me come up with something to answer 'saviour boy!''

Hermione looked at him, her eyes widening at the thought.

'Actually I've changed my mind. Just me and Gin'll go.'

'Too late I'm afraid. You asked and I accepted. I'm coming. Plus I like talking to your dad, he's great! Are they coming to the Burrow on Friday?'

'Yeah they are, I asked mum earlier. She's still a bit nervous about being around so many witches and wizards.'

'Why?' asked Ginny.

'Well, as much as they accepted I a witch, I always went home in the holidays and couldn't do magic so nothing really changed, I acted like a muggle the same as them. And since I've come of age I've spent most of the time either at school, the Burrow or HQ so they haven't seen a huge amount of magic. So to be in a situation where there's going to be magic happening around them all the time and nothing but our world is talked about, it's going to be pretty alien to them and quite intimidating.'

'Ah ok, that's understandable,' Ginny replied.

'Actually,' Hermione said, thinking out loud, 'if we use magic a bit more than we might normally do tonight, it might get them a bit more used to it before Friday.''

'How do you mean?' Harry asked.

'Well if something's on the other side of the room, sometimes you just go and get it, and sometimes you can't be arsed so just summon it,' Ginny raised her eyebrows and quickly glanced at Harry and then back to Hermione. Hermione got her point, 'some more than others, mentioning no names Harry!'

'Hey!' Harry exclaimed, he goes to answer the accusations but saw the you-know-we're-right look from both Ginny and Hermione and admitted defeat, 'yeah all right!'

'Anyway,' Hermione started again, 'my point was, if we use magic all the time regardless of whether we normally would or not, it might help them get used to it a bit more.'

'Sounds like a good idea,' said Ginny.

'Hey, if I get to be lazy all night I'm not gonna complain!' agreed Harry.

Mrs. Weasley ended their conversation by bustling in the ward and giving Harry, Ginny and Hermione all huge hugs, they were soon joined by Bill and Fleur. After a half hour of chatting, Hermione, Harry and Ginny left for home.

When they arrived back the three of them collapsed on the sofa. Hermione shut her eyes but was nowhere near sleep; her stomach was rumbling too loudly for that to happen.

'Can we please have food now? I'm _starving_.' She asked the other two.

'Me too,' replied Harry.

'There's a surprise!' added Ginny. Hermione laughed and leant forward to look at her two friends next to her. They had adopted the same position she had, head thrown back on the sofa, eyes shut to the world. Seeing them like that she flopped back to how she was before.

'Ok, so what does everyone want?' Harry asked, not opening his eyes.

'Hawaiian please,' Ginny responded.

'Size?' Harry asked.

'Medium,' she replied.

'Hermione?' Harry asked again.

'Chicken feast.'

'Char grilled?'

'Char grilled.'

'Size?'

'Medium.'

'Wow, you too really are great conversationalists aren't you?' Ginny commented, Harry and Hermione laughed.

'Harry you order.' Hermione demanded.

'Why me?'

'You're next to the phone.'

Harry sighed loudly and Ginny giggled. Hermione heard Harry take the phone out of its cradle. Then she felt it land on her lap.

'Oww!' she said loudly.

'Oh come on, that didn't hurt!' Harry responded.

'No, but this might. She threw the phone back at Harry.

'Hermione, I thought Ron had taught you to throw properly and not like a girl!'

'Oh that was harsh!' Hermione responded, incised.

'CHILDREN! This isn't getting us our food now is it?' Ginny said in a very Mrs Weasley-ish tone, 'Harry _you_ phone the pizza place and Hermione _you_ get the plates and cutlery ready. That way you _both_ are doing something, 'cause I'm guessing, seeing as though the maturity level has fallen through the floor in here, that neither of you will move until the other does!' Ginny finished her speech, her eyes still closed having not opened them all the way through it.

'Fine!' both Harry and Hermione said in unison. Harry dialled the number on the phone and walked to the window as he placed their order. Hermione walked through to the kitchen, and, ignoring Ginny's request of plates and cutlery – that was no way to eat pizza – she took three bottles of Butterbeer out of the cupboard and with a swish and a flick of her wand levitated the bottles back to the table as she tried to remember where she had put the napkins.

After searching through four more cupboards and drawers she found them and retook her place on the sofa next to Ginny, who still hadn't moved, as Harry hung up the phone.

Thirty-five minutes later their pizzas arrived. Harry had barely shut the door when he was swooped down upon by the two witches, trying to open up the boxes and identify a pizza as their own.

Hermione and Harry moved into the lounge and sat in front of the now switched on TV.

'What happened to the-' Ginny looked up and saw Harry and Hermione with their pizza boxes open on their laps and eating the food with their fingers, 'plates,' she finished with a sigh and half a smile. 'So are we going to yours when we've finished eating Hermione?'

'Mmmhmm,' Hermione replied trying to chew her pizza quickly. She swallowed her mouthful freeing herself to speak, 'mum said to go whenever, and I've got my house keys so even if they've popped out we can still get in.'

'That and the fact you're a witch!' Ginny said smiling.

'You see! No wonder mum and dad aren't used to magic, it's like as soon as I get near the house I forget I can do it! I think there's a switch in my brain that's stop me thinking like a witch when I start thinking about home.'

'Well, you'll have to overcome it tonight won't you? For one it'll make sorting a hell of a lot faster and easier and two, you want your mum and dad exposed to as much magic as possible.'

'I'm sure with you two there I'll remember.'

They ate their pizzas quickly due to the hunger the three of them were still feeling, and cleaned up with wand waving from the three of them. Five minutes later and the three of them were ready to leave the flat.


	11. Chapter 11 Home Again

**Disclaimer - I don't own anything...etc, etc.**

**A/N: Hokey coke, considering Hermione's mum and dad haven't as yet got named in the book I named them myself. Next chapter should be up soon, most of it's written. Keep reading and reviewing, does wonders for motivation! ;) Step**

Chapter 11

Harry, Hermione and Ginny apparated to behind the tree in Hermione's back garden. It was a tight squeeze for the three of them to stay out of sight, which wasn't helped by Hermione's elderly neighbour peering out of her upstairs window. Luckily Hermione spotted her before Harry stepped out into plain view, and managed to grab hold of his arm and pull him back behind the tree.

'Oh go downstairs you old bat!' Hermione said after thirty seconds of waiting and watching. Ginny suppressed a giggle. The old woman decided she'd had enough of peering into next door's garden and disappeared from sight.

'Merlin I thought she'd never go!' said Harry as he stepped forward from behind the tree. They walked round to the front of the house, to the front door.

'Anyone looking?' Hermione asked as she discreetly took her wand out from her inside jacket pocket. Ginny and Harry had a quick look round.

'No,' Harry answered.

'Not that I can see,' replied Ginny.

'Ok then,' Hermione said as she tapped the lock with her wand, silently casting the spell. The door clicked open and the three of them walked inside, Hermione closing the door with a flick of her wand.

'Mum? Dad?' she called.

'Hermione is that you? Her dad called from upstairs.

'Who else would be calling them mum and dad?' Hermione asked Harry and Ginny.

'What?' her dad shouted.

'Yes dad it's me, Harry and Ginny are here too.'

'What?' her dad asked for the second time.

'Oh for God's sake,' she said so only Harry and Ginny could hear. She moved to the foot of the stairs and looked up. She saw ladders leading up to the loft and her dad's feet on the top rung.

'I'll be in the lounge dad,' she shouted up the stairs.

'Ok, I'll be down in a minute,' he replied.

Hermione smiled and gestured to the other two to follow her into the lounge.

'Hi mum,' she said as she walked into the lounge, 'How-' she stopped talking as her mum held up her hand to silence her daughter. Hermione looked at the TV and saw her mum's favourite soap about to finish. She turned towards Harry and Ginny and gestured for them to come further into the room. Their entrance went unnoticed by Hermione's mum. Ten seconds later the theme music to the programme started and Hermione's mum turned towards her daughter. She looked taken aback when she saw she wasn't alone, but turned her look of shock into a welcoming smile.

'Harry! Ginny! It's nice to see you again, I didn't know you were coming too.'

'Well we offered to help Hermione with her sorting,' Harry answered, 'you don't mind us arriving unannounced do you Mrs. Granger?'

'Not at all Harry, and please call me Jan, Mrs. Granger is far too formal!'

Harry smiled one of his most charming smiles.

'Does your dad know you're here Hermione?'

'Yes he does, I think I managed to get through to him on the third attempt. He'll be down in a minute.'

'Ok, do you three want a drink? I was going to get a refill on my wine, I can get you all a glass too if you want one,' she moved to stand up.

'No mum, sit down, I'll do the drinks. I think I'll join you with a glass of wine. How about you two?'

'Well if you insist!' replied Harry.

'Ginny?'

'Yeah, go on then!'

Hermione refilled her mum's glass with a flick of her wand and then conjured four more glasses for the three of them and her dad, and filled them as well. Jan watched wide-eyed as her daughter made objects appear with her fast and ever-moving wand.

Hermione finished by levitating the glasses to her mum, Harry and Ginny. When her work was done she gestured to Harry and Ginny to sit down on the reclining chairs whilst she took a seat on the sofa next to her mum. As she took a sip of her wine her dad walked in and sat next to her.

'There's a glass of wine for you there dad, unless you want a beer instead?'

'No no, it's poured now, no point in wasting it.'

In response she waved her wand and transfigured the glass into a pint glass and the wine into beer, then moved it through the air, coming to a stop in front of her dad.

'Err, thanks Hermione.'

'That's ok dad. So what needs sorting?' she asked, trying not to react to the badly hidden smiles Ginny and Hermione were wearing at Hermione's dad's amazement.

'Oh, just a few boxes of your old stuff. I wasn't, of course, going to throw anything out until you'd looked through it, but the loft really needed a sort out.'

He glanced over at Harry and Ginny. Hermione realised he had never been properly introduced to Ginny formally, having missed each other on the very few times her parents had ventured into the wizarding world.

'Sorry dad, this is Ginny, my best friend from school and Ron's sister. I'd forgotten you've never been properly introduced.'

Her dad moved towards Ginny, luckily her chair was at right angles to hid end of the sofa so neither had to get up for Ginny to shake his extended hand.

'Lovely to meet you Ginny.'

'You too Mr. Granger.

'Charles please.'

'Ok, Charles.'

'So are you training to be an, err…' he searched for the correct word for his daughter's chosen profession, 'an…Auror too?'

'No I'm not, I'm training to be a Healer for St. Mungo's,' she paused, wondering whether to carry on or whether too much detail about the wizarding world would overwhelm. She needn't have worried though.

'St. Mungo's is the wizarding hospital, am I right?'

'Yes, that's right,' answered Ginny with a smile.

'So am I right in thinking a Healer is the equivalent of a doctor in our oh so boring, non-magical world?'

Ginny laughed.

'Yes you are Mr. Gra-, Charles, a Healer is the same as a muggle doctor.'

'How long do you have to train for before you're qualified Ginny?' Jan asked.

'Well, it's three years pure learning and then two more at St. Mungo's, firstly shadowing a qualified Healer and then actually being able to start healing patients at the hospital.'

'Hermione always wanted to be a doctor when she was little; she showed absolutely no interest in becoming a dentist and taking over the family practice. I always fancied seeing 'Granger and daughter' over the practice door, but it wasn't to be was it Hermione? Even before we found out she was a witch,' Charles said.

'No dad, I'm sorry but I just couldn't get excited about looking at, and learning about teeth!'

Her dad chuckled, and Ginny and Hermione exchanged smiles.

'Yes darling I know, you told us many times. So how is your training going Hermione? And you too Harry?'

'It's good,' Harry answered, 'some days are more interesting then others. I had a session about potions today which was very boring for me, but Hermione had my favourite lesson which was duelling?'

'Duelling?' Charles asked. He had worked out that wizards and witches must fight using their wands, but he had never imagined his daughter taking lessons in it.

'Yes dad, duelling,' Hermione replied.

'As in draw at ten paces type of duelling?'

'Well, if you are doing it in a more noble or organised way then I suppose it is very similar, but normally there's nothing noble about duelling. It's really the one with the fastest reactions who wins, which is what we were practicing today.'

'That sounds quite exciting!' her dad said with a twinkle in his eye.

Harry noticed Charles' expression.

'We could show you if you want Mr. Granger,' said Harry. Hermione turned to look at him.

'Charles please Harry,'

'What?' asked Hermione, slightly shocked at Harry's suggestion, she had visions of them duelling in the slightly narrow hallway.

'Well not here obviously,' replied Harry, knowing what Hermione was thinking, 'we could show you on Friday, Hermione said you were coming to the Burrow for dinner.'

'Mum's really happy you're coming,' added Ginny.

'You could really show us then?' Charles asked hopefully.

'Yeah sure, and not just us, the others'll probably want to join in too, won't they Gin?'

'Oh yes! You _know_ it'll end up in a competition of some sort.'

'Well I don't want to be the reason for an inter-family situation.' Charles added, slight concern filling his response.

Ginny laughed.

'Don't worry, it's a part of family life when there's six brothers, most of who are highly competitive, so there's nothing to worry about, it'll all be done in good humour.'

'Well, in which case I look forward to it immensely.'

He took a long pull from his beer.

'Mum, dad, we'd better get started on those boxes, something tells me it could take me a while.'

'Ok then. Don't get lost in them!'

Hermione, Harry and Ginny smiled at Charles's comment and stood to leave the room, taking their drinks with them.

'Err, Hermione?' her dad said.

'Yes?' she replied.

'You couldn't just err…' he nodded at his half drunk pint. Hermione giggled.

'Of course dad,' she flicked her wand and the glass refilled.

'Marvellous,' he said smiling broadly, 'thank you sweetheart,'

'You're welcome,' she said as she left the room and closed the door.


	12. Chapter 12 Memory Recall

**A/N: Ok I know ! isn't proper grammar but I felt the sentance warranted it. Hope you agree! Happy reading. Remember to R&R ;) Step**

**Oh, I know this is a bit longer than my other chapters but there was no point in breaking it up.**

Chapter 12

Harry and Ginny followed Hermione upstairs to her room. The three of them stopped, however, when they saw the mound of boxes stacked in Hermione's room.

'Oh, I'm _so_ glad you two are here to help! Aren't _you_ so glad you offered?' she said with a cheeky smile.

They moved the boxes out into the hall – using magic of course – and then brought two of them back into the room. Harry sat on the floor with one, Hermione and Ginny sat on the bed with the other.

'Cool! I get the box with Hermione's old school books in!' Harry said smiling up at the two witches. He took a red exercise book out of the box, 'Hermione Granger, Mathematics Homework, Mrs. Gwynn. Class 6M.'

'6M?' asked Ginny, confused.

'Year six, Middleton house; each year was split into four houses like at Hogwarts. I was in Middleton which was…red actually.'

'That's strange,' said Ginny.

'Not really, more of a coincidence. You weren't chosen to be in a house because you possessed certain qualities, it was purely random, which one you were placed in.'

'Ah I see.'

'Now there's a surprise,' said Harry looking through the workbook.

'What is?' asked Hermione who was rummaging through her own box.

'Ten out of ten, ten out of ten, twenty out of twenty, fifteen out of fifteen, _Merlin's Beard!_'

'What?' Hermione asked sensing the sarcasm and amusement in Harry's voice.

'Seven out of ten! _Seven out of ten?_ What happened Hermione?'

'Oh shut up! Little miss know-it-all did have the occasional bad day you know!'

'Yes but that's three _whole_ questions wrong!'

'What's your point saviour boy?'

'How did you recover Hermione?' The experience must have been traumatic.'

'You'll have a traumatic experience in a minute if you're not careful!' Hermione exclaimed, pulling out an old diary from the box. Ginny did the same.

'Aww look Hermione's old diaries! Do you mind if I read them?' Ginny asked.

'Yeah go on, I'm pretty sure my…' she checked the date on the spine and mentally worked out her age, 'nine year old self didn't have any embarrassing secrets.'

Ginny started flicking through the small book, reading the odd entry.

'How do you want these sorting Hermione?'

Hermione glanced up at the small pile of books Harry had looked through.

'Err…if you put them in year order and in some sort of subject order please.'

'Any particular subject order?'

'English, Maths, Science and the whatever's left.'

'Ok, that can be arranged.'

Harry picked up a pile of books and started putting them in different piles.

'Err Hermione, why is this one covered in ink?' He held up a book that was dotted in ink spots, and then opened it to reveal a page nearly filled with ink.

'I think I know why!' Ginny answered not looking up from the diary but smiling broadly.

Hermione grinned, she knew what was coming. Ginny read allowed,

'_Today in school something very strange happened,_ there's only one n in happened by the way Hermione,'

'Yes, thank you Ginny, can I remind you I was nine!'

Ginny continued reading.

'_We were having a test in science and Lisa was copying from me. I got very angry, but I couldn't say anything because it was a test. Then suddenly there was ink everywhere and her pen was broken into small pieces.'_

'You made her pen explode!' Harry asked laughing.

'Apparently!' Hermione said with a huge grin on her face, 'of course then I had no idea what had happened, everyone presumed she had been pressing too hard on the nib and it cracked the cartridge sending ink everywhere, but when I was at home I thought about what had happened and I remembered feeling like a surge through me, and a split second later her pen was in bits!'

'Hermione Granger I am shocked!' said Harry, 'that girl must have been traumatised!'

'Oh she was fine after an hour or so, and it served her right. And you're one to talk Mr. I-blew-up-my-aunt-and-set-a-snake-on-my-cousin!'

'Yes well _I_ was provoked!'

'So was I!' Hermione replied shrilly.

'I swear if I have to sort out another argument between you two today I'll jinx your mouths shut!'

'Aww come on Gin, Hermione knows I'm only messing!'

'As does saviour boy!' Hermione replied, and then burst out laughing at Harry's face. Despite himself, Harry laughed as well.

Hermione looked through the diary she was holding, it was from the year before she went to Hogwarts. She opened it to July. She read the passage from her last day at first school.

_Well today was my last day at St. Aidans, I'm looking forward to going to King Edwards but I'm a bit scared too, Hannah, Lauren and Alex will be there and we'll be facing it together so it'll be ok. I've decided I want to be a doctor when I grow up, it'll be hard work but I think I can do it. Anyway the holidays are here which is great. We're going on holiday in two weeks to France, I think we're going for three weeks which means I won't get to spend much time with my friends this holiday. Oh well, I guess I'll have to make the most of these two weeks. Starting now! Bye!_

Hermione smiled, remembering the time she had spent with her friends that holiday. It was strange really, she missed the fact that she hadn't gone through secondary school with them, and got to know the people they turned out to be. She had seen them occasionally, bumping into the in town when she was home for the holidays. She struggled to remember the cover story her parents had come up with to excuse her absence from the local grammar school when she saw them, but if she mentioned the words 'finishing school' and 'up north' they normally remembered what they had been told by their parents.

Her eyes had glazed over and she hadn't turned a page in the diary for the past five minutes.

'Hermione? Are you ok?' Harry asked gently.

'Huh? Erm yeah I'm fine. I was just wondering what life would have been like had I not found out I was a witch. What I would be doing, if I'd still be friends with the girls I was friends with at school. You know, just thinking. Do you…do you never think how things-' she stopped herself before she finished the question. If Harry and his family had not been wizards, he would more than likely still have parents. 'I'm sorry, that was insensitive. I didn't mean to-'

'Hermione it's ok. I know what you meant, and yeah, I do think about it sometimes, what would I be doing if I'd gone to Stonewall High in my dyed, second hand uniform and my broken glasses. I wonder if I'd have made friends finally being away from Dudley, or whether I'd have been known as 'that Potter Boy' throughout my entire education!'

'Did you think about what you wanted to be when you were older?'

'I really didn't know. Merlin I didn't even know until fake Moody suggested I'd make a good Auror what I might end up doing in this world and that was when I was fifteen, never mind eleven!'

'Yeah I suppose.'

'So what's bugging you?' Ginny asked, even though she couldn't understand what Harry and Hermione had experienced, being brought up thinking they were muggles, she knew instinctively something was bothering her friend.

'Nothing really, I mean, don't get me wrong if I could go back and decide against going to Hogwarts, I wouldn't do it. I'd still get on that train, even if I knew what I do now, but there will always be a part of me that'll miss living out life as I planned. Even though it was an eleven-year-old girl's plan, it still had goals, ambitions and dreams.'

'That's perfectly understandable Hermione. I can't even begin to imagine what it's like to have your world turned upside down, and at quite a young age as well. But you can't say you've not taken advantage of every opportunity that you've been offered, you did unimaginably well at school considering you're muggle born and you've been the best of friends to Harry and me, not to mention the most caring and loyal girlfriend to my lazy arsed brother.

'You've lived life as a witch to the fullest, from someone with muggle parents that's a huge achievement, and you should be proud of that. I know none of the recent events were planned, but it all went quite well with only one hitch, which _will_ wake up eventually! You should be proud of yourself Hermione, I know I'm proud of you, and Harry too.'

Hermione sat on the bed taken aback by the very kind words of her friend. It was enough to her she understood how she felt, never mind to know that Ginny was proud of her.

'Thanks Gin,' she croaked, 'that was a really nice thing to say.'

'That's ok, you are allowed to have insecurities Hermione and friends don't judge you on them, no matter what they are, ok?'

'Ok, point taken.'

'Just don't decide to live as a muggle hermit. I would drag you back to the wizarding world with my own two hands if I had to!' Hermione smiled.

'No you wouldn't. You'd use magic all the way!' Harry responded. Ginny looked at Hermione, eyebrows raised.

'Saviour boy does have a point!' she replied. Ginny scowled at them and pulled out a small book from the box.

'YES! I've found photos!' she almost sang. Hermione's smile slipped off her face whereas Harry's threatened to split his face in two, 'bad look Hermione!'

'Oh Merlin! They would be in this box wouldn't they? And you would be the first to find them! Can I just say, before you open the album that my fantastically bushy hair was tame in the first few years at Hogwarts compared to what you are about to see in there. It was also a bit shorter so it had a triangular shape to it. Swimming was a good lesson for me at school, it was the one hour in the week where my hair was flat!'

Ginny looked at Hermione and smiled.

'Oh come on Hermione, it can't be that- oh!' she had opened the album and caught sight of Hermione's hair, 'wow, you weren't exaggerating were you?'

'No I wasn't!' Hermione laughed.

'Let me see!' Harry exclaimed from the floor. When Ginny ignored him he stood up and squeezed himself between Ginny and the box so he could look at the photos.

'O-k! That's erm, that's quite big hair Hermione! I mean I'm not one to talk when it comes to hair, I gave up on mine years ago but that's erm, still big!'

'That was very restrained of you Harry, thank you…I think!'

Ginny and Harry looked through the rest of the photos, Ginny got past expecting them to move (eventually) and once they had passed the shock of Hermione's hair, they asked question about who else was in the photos and where they were taken.

Apart from pausing to look at photos the trio managed to work their way through the boxes pretty quickly. Hermione kept a few things aside to take back to the house so she could look at them properly, including her diaries from her first three years at Hogwarts and her school reports to see if she could see any hidden hints from her teachers comments that indicated she made strange things happen in class.

Harry's favourite box was the one holding all the games. He looked at Monopoly in awe. Having never been allowed to play it at the Dursley's he was ecstatic to hear Hermione offer to teach him how to play. That reaction was nothing, however, to the one he gave when he found Mouse Trap.

'Dudley used to play this in front of me knowing I wanted to play but never letting me join in. Can we please take it back home with us?'

Hermione nearly wet herself at Harry's reaction and told him that, yes, he could take the game back home. It was half past ten by the time they had finished sorting, wine having flowed freely all the while. The three slightly giddy friends descended the stairs and went to say their goodbyes to Hermione's parents. After telling her dad which boxes were for where – the ones on her bed were to keep, the ones on her floor were to go to charity and the ones outside her room could be thrown out. Knowing her dad probably wouldn't remember which pile was for which, she had left reminders for him in the forms of very glittery and sparkly multicoloured words hovering above the boxes, apparently Hermione got a little more creative with the help of alcohol.

The three of them said their goodbyes after arrangements had been made for Friday and after Ginny had insisted that there was no need to dress up for dinner (it being a thoroughly informal, extended family dinner).

With their boxes in and games in tow they apparated back home. They were all very tired so went to bed after one more glass of wine. For once Hermione had no trouble falling asleep. Although she didn't normally approve of indulging in large quantities of alcohol (she found the negatives generally outweighed the positives) it was tonight proving useful in sending her to a dreamless sleep.


	13. Chapter 13 Hangover Hell

**A/N: Hi peeps! Erm I've taken something from the uniforms in the films, the way each house has it's own tie colour and different cadges on their robes. Apparently (I think!) this isn't actually stated in any of the books, but that's the way I saw it even before I watched the first films so that's why it's in there! Just a minor point but I like things to be as accurate as possible! Not a particularly long one, but the next one's in the works.**

**Please R&R. Step**

Chapter 13

Thursday morning came later than usual to Hermione Granger, the reason being she had forgotten to set her alarm the night before. Luckily her housemate had awoken to go to the bathroom and realised she hadn't surfaced.

'Hermione wake up!' he shouted through her bedroom door, 'Hermione!'

Hermione hadn't moved and still didn't move when Harry opened the door. He walked to the bed and gently placed his hand on her shoulder.

'Hermione wake up, it's half eight. You have to be in work in half an hour and you'll be late if you don't get up now,' he shook her gently, trying to wake her up. He succeeded.

She rolled over and looked at him, her eyes extremely slow to focus.

'What time did you say it was?' she asked in a very groggy voice.

'Half eight.'

'Oh you have got to be joking!'

'Afraid not,' he replied.

'Shit,' she sat up and got out of bed, stumbling slightly as she walked towards the door.

'Hermione Granger are you hung over?' asked Harry, a smile creeping onto his face.

He was answered by a hand gesture from Hermione that Ron would have been proud of. He interpreted it to mean 'leave me alone' or words to that effect and smiled to himself. His smile faded however when his bladder reminded him exactly why he had woken up in the first place.

'You had to wake her up first didn't you Harry? You had to do the gentlemanly thing!' he muttered to himself.

Luckily for Harry, Hermione was finished within five minutes having decided against washing her hair. She left the bathroom and was practically knocked over by Harry as he ran into the vacant room, before she had chance to remember she had left her pyjamas in there.

She dressed quickly and tamed her hair by scraping it into a high ponytail. Her make up was applied sparingly and her breakfast was a smaller bowl of cereal than she would normally eat. She skipped her morning coffee, and after a brief check in her bag apparated to work.

She had felt reasonably ok whilst she was getting ready for the day and for the first few minutes of her lesson, but then she started with a headache and unfortunately having to look at small writing on a small screen at the front of the dimly lit room didn't help. After twenty minutes of hoping it would go away she rummaged in her bag for some muggle headache pills. Whilst Ginny would laugh at her for taking muggle remedies, Hermione knew the pills would more than likely help.

Cursing herself for not remembering a bottle of water, and because she didn't want to draw attention to herself by conjuring herself one, she decided to swallow the tablets dry. She regretted this almost instantly however, as she started to cough which made her headache unbearable. She realised she was about to cause more of a disturbance by coughing than conjuring a glass of water would have done in the first place.

She bent down pretending to take something out of her bag and with a wave of her wand had conjured the drink and then downed the whole thing. She vanished the glass and got back to her attempts at note taking hoping that her 'fast-working' headache pills would be exactly that.

Two and a half hours later she was walking out of the lecture theatre about to make her way down to the atrium when someone shouted her name.

'Hermione!'

She spun around which made her almost gone headache resurface in a painful throb before subsiding again. She closed her eyes and grimaced at the pain.

'Err, are you ok Hermione?' the voice asked.

Hermione opened her eyes and saw it was Cairo stood in front of her.

'Yeah I'm ok; I've just got a bit of a headache. Nothing serious.

'Oh, are you coming down with something or was it self-inflicted?' he asked with half a grin creeping onto his face.

Hermione smiled.

Unfortunately the latter. Although I am personally blaming Harry and Ginny, I wouldn't have drunk half the wine I did had they not kept refilling my glass. Not only that but they didn't insist I drink some water before I went to bed, hence the headache.'

'Ah I understand. I was just wondering if you had decided whether you're going to the ball or not.'

'To be honest I haven't thought any more about it. Damn, I forgot to tell Harry about your party, I'm sorry Cairo, I'll tell him tonight.'

'That's ok, there's no hurry, but you really should come Hermione, it should be fun and even if it's not, my party will be!'

'I dunno, I-'

'You've got to go Hermione, I've heard there might be some sort of competition between the three groups and you've got to be there to help us win! You're the brightest and best in the whole group!'

Hermione smiled.

'Aren't you forgetting a black haired, green eyed, glasses wearing boy who is actually the brightest and best in out whole group?'

'Hmm, well all the more reason why we need you, plus you live with him so you'll be able to give us inside information!'

Hermione laughed and looked down at her trainers, not knowing what to say.

'Look, seriously Hermione, I think it would be good for you. I know we don't know each other that well but I remember seeing you a lot at school and you don't seem as, I don't know, happy I guess as you were then. I know you have a damn good reason not to be and you seem to be coping really well, but give yourself a break. And besides I'll miss you company if you're there. Plus I'll stop hassling you if you say yes!'

Hermione smiled, slightly taken aback by Cairo's speech. He had a point though.

'Were you in Gryffindor? I think I remember seeing you in the common room.'

'Yeah I was, but a lot of my friends were in Ravenclaw so they used to smuggle me into their common room when we got thrown out of the library for being too loud. I learned to transfigure the colour of my tie and the badge on my robes pretty quickly!'

Hermione laughed.

'I'd tell you that was a very wrong thing to do, but with the things me, Harry and Ron got up to I'd be a hypocrite if I did!'

'Ah yes, I heard many a rumour about the stuff you three apparently got up to. I don't know how much of it is true though!'

'Well if you're lucky I might tell you at the ball.'

'So you'll go?' asked Cairo, cautiously optimistic.

'Yeah I'll go. As you said it'll be a break from the routine of working life.'

'Good, I'm glad you're going. Anyway I won't hold you up any more; I'm guessing you're off to the hospital to see Ron?

'Yeah I am.'

'Well say hello to him from me.'

Hermione smiled.

'I will do, thanks Cairo.'

'Hermione please call me Cai, only my mum calls me Cairo when I'm in trouble. I keep thinking I've done something wrong when you say it!'

She smiled.

'Ok, Cai it is. I'll see you after lunch.

'Later gator!' he called as she walked away from him smiling, and in a much better mood than she was this morning.


	14. Chapter 14 Persuasions Victorious?

Chapter 14

After her talk with Cai, Hermione's day got considerably better. Her headache eventually totally disappeared and her constant water top ups did their job of keeping it from returning. Her lunchtime visit to Ron was like any other and it was whilst she was talking to him she realised she had yet to see Harry's new dress robes. After much conversation with herself she decided she would buy herself some new dress robes too.

Whilst she had had very little wear out of her old ones she had at least worn them more than once, unlike Harry. As she thought more about the ball she started to look forward to it. They were allowed to bring a guest. Harry would more than likely bring Ginny. They seemed to have taken it upon themselves to not be very 'couply' around Hermione, determined not to remind her of what she was missing.

The afternoon's lessons went as expected even if they were slightly boring, and because Marcus got into a debate with their potions tutor the lesson ran over by ten minutes. When she got to the hospital Harry was sat waiting for her, and was reading out the Quidditch scores to Ron.

'Err Harry?' she said before walking over to Ron and giving him a kiss hello.

He looked up from the paper and smiled at her.

'Hey Hermione.'

'Harry shouldn't you be in class? It's only quarter past three.'

'Our lessons got cancelled after a slight mishap in duelling practice.'

'What did you do?' she asked with a smile on her face.

Harry looked at her, eyebrows raised.

'For your information little miss I-made-my-friend's-pen-explode it wasn't me.'

'You're not gonna let that die are you?'

'Oh no!'

'Fair enough,' she accepted, 'so what happened then?'

'Well, I'm not exactly sure, I was stood at the opposite end of the room but we managed to figure out that Michael got hit by two spells at the same time,' he glanced over at Hermione, unsure of how she would react, he decided to press on, 'I was telling Ron there was no need to feel embarrassed because it's not just him it happens to!'

Hermione smiled, thankful he had brought a bit of humour to the situation.

'How was he hit by two spells?'

'Well we were having the same class that you were yesterday where we were practicing getting into duelling stance and then later on disarming. Well after that we went onto the shield charm, it reminded me of our DA days, but anyway, we were supposed to try and disarm our partners whilst they produced a shield. Except Nick decided to use some basic but quite amusing jinxes and hexes. Kingsley wasn't that bothered, his theory being that if you only think someone's going to disarm you and not cause you any physical harm then you might not try as hard, or something.'

'Well, that's true, people's behaviour towards anything differs if they know there's a chance they might get hurt.'

'Exactly, so there's curses rebounding off the shields in every direction and one hits Michael, unfortunately at the same time Nick's too fast for him and he doesn't get his shield up in time so he's hit by both. It was pure coincidence they hit him at the same time.'

'Is he ok?' Hermione asked, concerned. Proof that this was not a good thing was lying in front of her.

'Well Nick hit him with 'Impedimentia,' and the deflected curse was 'Expelliarmus'.

'That doesn't sound too bad,' Hermione said cautiously.

'That's what I thought, but his wand left his hand faster than I've ever seen, I'm surprised it didn't snap in two when it hit the wall, and unfortunately he wasn't moving slowly when he was taken off his feet and hit the wall behind him, and the sound his head made against it wasn't a quiet one,' he said with a grimace.

'Was he knocked out?' asked Hermione, quietly.

'Yeah, he still hadn't woken up by the time they got him here.'

'Merlin, I hope he's alright.'

'I'm sure he'll be fine, it wasn't so much spell damage as a smack to the head. He'll have concussion, the Healers here will be able to sort him out.'

'Well, I hope so.'

'Me too.'

'I don't mean to sound insensitive or anything but surely your other lessons didn't need to be cancelled.'

'I didn't think they would be but a couple of the girls got really upset, Nick was shaking and felt really guilty, Sarah was inconsolable 'cause it was her rebounded spell that hit him, and apparently the tutors are sorting out the paperwork that comes with an accident at Auror training, so it was just easier to cancel the rest of the day's lessons.'

'I would not like to be the person who has to fill out _that_ form,' said Hermione sighing.

'Me neither,' agreed Harry.

'Is he allowed visitors?'

'I'm not sure, I was going to go and see after I'd finished reading the scores to Ron.'

'Oh ok, well if you want I can finish reading them and you can go down now.'

Harry smiled.

'I wouldn't be that mean to you Hermione and there's only a few left to do. Besides I make them more interesting to listen to, I couldn't subject Ron to your…' he considered his choice of words carefully seeing the glint in Hermione's eyes, 'less than enthusiastic rendition.'

'Well, I wouldn't like to deprive either of you of your oh-so-enthralling Quidditch scores. Please carry on!'

Harry picked up the paper he had dropped on Ron's bed and started where he finished earlier. Whilst he was reading them Hermione remembered she had yet to tell him about Cairo's after-the-ball party. Harry finished by telling Ron the Chudley Cannon's had won their match 270 to 90.

'Cairo asked me to tell you that he's having a party at his house after the ball. He thought twelve was far too early to stop partying so decided to let us carry on at his at our leisure.'

'That's very brave of him. Up to forty, eighteen and nineteen year olds already tanked up on alcohol, carrying on drinking in quite a confined space. Does he realise the consequences?'

'Harry are you nineteen or ninety? She asked with a smile.

'I'm just saying, I wouldn't want to clean up after that even with magic, I'm much more conscious of housework now I have to do it at home'.

'HA!' Hermione exclaimed 'When was the last time you dusted the lounge?'

'Well I don't know the specific date but it wasn't that long ago!'

'Yeah, whatever you think saviour boy!'

'Pen exploder!'

Hermione glanced at the 'Prophet' still lying on the bed and saw a small picture of Harry on the front page, under the name 'Wizard-kind wonder! She inwardly laughed.

'Wizard-kind wonder!'

His eyes widened and jumped to the paper.

'Damn, I knew I should have got rid of that. Anyway, enough of the name-calling-'

'Only because you can't come up with anything else other than 'pen-exploder!'

'ANYWAY…have you decided whether or not you're going to the ball?'

'Yeah I have, Cai said I should give myself a break and relax a bit. Plus I get to go shopping for dress robes if I do! You know you didn't show me your new ones yesterday.'

'Oh yeah, I completely forgot. Must have been all that wine!' he smiled cheekily at her.

'Don't say anything about my behaviour this morning. I'm personally blaming you and Ginny for the headache I had to endure all morning.'

'How is it our fault?' Harry exclaimed a little too loudly.

Healer Thompson gave him a 'shushing' look from the other side of the ward.

'Harry shh!' Hermione responded.

'_Well_? He asked, taking the volume of his voice back down to normal, 'How is it our fault?'

'You kept refilling my glass when I wasn't looking,' she replied. Harry opened his mouth to protest but was cut off before he could, '_and_ you didn't make me drink any water before I collapsed in to bed hence said headache. You know how much wine dehydrates me!'

'I think you'll find that it was Ginny who was refilling your wine, not that I really noticed; she was doing the same to me. Anyway, you had the same amount as me and I was fine!'

'Harry you _know_ I'm a light weight when it comes to red wine, as does _Ginevra_!'

'Wow, it must have been bad if you're long naming her!'

'It was, _and_ I nearly choked to death taking some headache tablets during this mornings lecture!'

'Well if it makes you feel any better I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to have a headache, or nearly choke trying to remedy it.'

'Hmm, well I suppose I accept your apology.'

'Good, so when are you shopping for dress robes?'

'On Saturday I suppose, I'll try that new shop in Hogsmeade and if there's none in there I like I'll try Madam Malkin's in Diagon Alley'.

'Well I got mine from Madam Malkin's, I knew she'd have some that would look ok, there was no point in going anywhere else.'

'Typical bloke!' Hermione commented with a smile on her face, 'I thought you said you weren't convinced by the colour.'

'I'm not, I don't know if maroon compliments or badly clashes with my eyes. They really stood out!'

Hermione laughed.

'Well I'm sure Ginny will tell you if they look good. Are you taking her to the ball?'

'I mentioned it to her, but she's got some initial exams coming up and she isn't sure when they are yet, but if they aren't at stupid times then she said she'd love to.

'That's good.'

They sit for a minute, both thinking about the ball.

'I'm glad you decided to come, I think you should try and…' he paused.

'Get out more?' Hermione finished for him.

'Well I suppose, but I was thinking more along the lines of having a bit more Hermione time. You spend a huge amount of time here and I really admire you for that, but no one would think any less of you if you took the occasional day off.'

'I would though. Ron came back to find me and to make sure me and you were still alive-'

'Like you would have done if it had been the other way around.'

'He came back and when he found me he tried to look after me, I can't forget that, which is why I'm here as much as I can be. I owe him everything.'

'Hermione, it was _not_ _your fault_ what happened to him.'

'Yes well that's debatable.'

'No it's not! Look I know you think that if you hadn't got knocked out then he wouldn't have been where he was to get hit.'

'Well he wouldn't!'

'BUT…anything could have happened. Let's say you didn't get knocked out, what would have happened then?'

Hermione sits quietly, not knowing what to say.

'I don't know.'

'_Exactly_, you could have been killed by the next Death Eater that came your way. Ron could have come back and you could have duelled together only to have been killed twenty minutes later by God knows who! As it is, me, you, the Weasleys, Lupin, Tonks and a hell of a lot of other people who we care about are still here and living like there really is no tomorrow, because they know how close we got to losing to Him. Every member of our adopted family survived and I really believe Ron will wake up.'

'How can you be so sure?' asked Hermione, voicing a concern she didn't like to think about too often.

'I know how he felt about you, and he wouldn't leave you alone in this world for too long. He'll be back with us soon, just give him time.'

Hermione smiled at him.

'Thanks Harry,' she said quietly, 'I don't know what I'd do without you sometimes, Ginny either. You've both been so good to me.'

'I'll say it again, like you would have, had things been the other way around. You told me the other night that your problems become each others when you're best friends. Well I'd say this comes under that, wouldn't you?'

'Yeah I suppose.'

'Good. Now what are you making for tea?'


	15. Chapter 15 Morning Madness

**Hey peeps, sorry it's been a while since I updated - for my standard anyway! - but I got carried away writing chapters towards the end, will be great when I get to post them! Got about seven so far. This one's a bit on the short side but there was a natural break in the story line.Chapter 16 is in progress, so hopefully it won't be too long 'til it's finished. Please R&R ;)**

**Step XxXxX ;)**

Chapter 15

It was Friday morning and Hermione was brought back to the land of the conscious by her alarm clock having remembered to set it the night before. It was the last morning for a week she would have to get up early, as next week her group started work at eleven like Harry's group had this week. She switched off the clock, a lot more gracefully than the last time she had tried, and swung her legs out of bed so she was sat up. As she walked out of the bedroom door she tripped over Crookshanks as he tried to get in.

'Crookshanks, it's a beautiful day, why are you inside? You like the sun!'

She carried on through to the bathroom and went through her morning routine, toilet, teeth and shower. When she emerged from the shower and returned to her bedroom she saw why Crookshanks had been so eager to get in. He had brought her a present. A dead mouse. Before she went to Hogwarts the sight of a mouse, dead or alive would have sent her screaming into her father's arms. Now however, after years of using parts of animals she had never heard of before to make potions she would then have to drink, the small mouse on the floor didn't really bother her. Although she did feel a little bit sorry for the helpless creature.

'Wow, thanks Crookshanks, that was really thoughtful of you.'

She scratched behind the ears to show her appreciation, the cat meowed happily.

'Now why don't you go and show Uncle Harry what you've caught? He'd love to see it!' An evil grin spread across her face, 'come on!'

The cat picked up the mouse in its mouth and followed Hermione out of the room. She opened Harry's door and then put it to after Crookshanks had trotted happily in, then hurried back to her room. As she was pulling her T-shirt on and straightened out over her jeans she heard Harry's first vocal contribution to the day.

'Eeeeuuuurrrgh! Crookshanks that's gross! Hermione do something about your cat and what it's killed!'

Hermione laughed and walked through to Harry's room trying to replace the smile on her face with a look of innocence and not having a clue what Harry was talking about. When she walked into his room, she had to laugh; Harry was sat up in bed, a look of disgust on his face with Crookshanks sat proudly next to Harry's pillow.

Harry's facial expression became apparent when Hermione spotted where the cat had deposited the mouse. The dent Harry's head had made in the pillow came to an end no more than an inch from the dead creature. Hermione straightened her face as he turned towards her.

'How did the cat get in here?' Harry demanded.

'Well I presume he walked through the open door Harry, that's generally how people and cats get into rooms!'

'Yes, I'm well aware of how a door works Hermione, but how did the cat, _your_ cat I might add, get through the door when I shut it before I went to bed last night?'

'I have no idea Harry, you mustn't have shut it properly!'

'I think you'll find I did!'

'Well you can't have, because Crookshanks, clever as he is can't quite open a door – although I don't reckon it'll be long before he figures it out - and he certainly can't walk through solid wood either. So the only logical explanation is that you left the door open last night!'

Harry surveyed the witch stood before him.

'What?' she asked.

'I'm going to have to watch you, you're getting far too good at lying.'

'Harry I'm offended you would think I'm a liar!' she said in a mock shocked tone.

'Well I have proof you are a liar because I know for a fact that I shut that door last night, so the only way the cat would have got in was through you letting him in and then, knowing you, you ran off back to your room so I wouldn't see you!'

_Damn_! She thought, I'm going to have to talk to the twins to learn how to become more diverse with practical jokes!

'I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about, and besides, you haven't thanked Crookshanks for your present. He's going to get offended if you don't thank him soon.'

It was true, the cat was glaring at Harry.

'Hmm,' he said reaching to stroke the cat, 'well I suppose it's the thought that counts.'

Crookshanks meowed, stood up, took the mouse in his jaws and stalked out of the room.

'Oh good, it's left a nice little bloodstain on my pillow! Now I have to change my bed!'

'Harry, when was the last time you actually _did_ change your bed?'

He looked at her whilst he tried to remember.

'That's not the point. What if I'd have only changed it yesterday?'

'But you didn't, in fact I'm guessing it's at least three weeks since you did, I wouldn't care but I offered to do yours when I did mine on Sunday!'

'Yeah well it's only me that has to sleep in it.'

'Well for my sanity will you please at least wash it now?'

'Looks like I'm going to have to now doesn't it?'

'Good. Well I can't stand here talking to you all day. Have fun at work,' she turned to walk back to her room but stopped as she thought of something to ask Harry, 'oh, what time are we getting to the Weasley's tonight.'

'Well dinner is for seven give or take half an hour! And they aren't going to mind us being early are they? How about we get there for about quarter past six?'

'That sounds good. I'll let my parents know I'll be at home ready to take them at ten past.'

'Want me to come with you?' Harry asked.

'Yeah if you want, we can't take a parent each!'

'Ok then, see you later.'

Hermione walked through to her room and finished getting ready for work. When she walked past Harry's room she saw he was fast asleep. At least, she thought he's taken his pillowcase off first!


	16. Chapter 16 Fallen Remembered

**He he! I think I've finished writing the end of the story! Shame I haven't done the middle bit, ah well never mind. It will come eventually. In the meantime I hope you enjoy this one, please tell me what you think :)**

**Cheers!**

**Sarah XxXxX ;)**

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Chapter 16

Six o'clock came around very quickly for the young witch and wizard. They were both dressed casually but with a look that they had both made an effort, except Harry with his hair; there really was no point, especially when the twins greeted him by ruffling it. After locking up the house they apparated to Hermione's house to find her parents nearly ready to go.

Charles was arranging his tie as he opened the door to Hermione and Harry, and Jan was tying a piece of red ribbon around the neck of her bottle of wine she had bought for the evening.

'Mum! Now ours looks boring next to yours!' Hermione exclaimed as she stood the bottles next to each other on the dining room table. Harry laughed at Hermione, she turned to look at him.

'Well it does!'

'Yes Hermione.'

Wise words Harry, wise words,' said Charles as he looked into the dining room, 'sometimes it's just easier to nod and agree!'

Harry grinned at Charles.

'Don't I know it, I caught on quickly when I started being friends with Hermione and then again when I started going out with Ginny, and when they're together I generally don't say a lot.'

Charles laughed as he pulled his shoes on.

'That is such a lie!' argued Hermione.

'Yes Hermione,' said Harry before laughing at the look on the witch's face. Hermione started to laugh too, but mainly at the look on her dad's face as he tried to conceal his laughter.

'Anyway!' Hermione said to calm the laughter, 'are we ready to go?'

'I think so, have you locked the front door Charles?' her mum replied.

'Yes dear,'

'And is the bathroom window shut?'

'Yes dear,'

'Then yes Hermione, we are ready to go,' Jan finally replied to her daughter's question.

'Good. Harry would you apparate with mum and I'll go with dad.'

Harry walked next to Jan and held out his arm. She took it with an apprehensive smile.

'Don't worry Mrs Granger, you're in safe hands,' Harry said with a reassuring smile. She relaxed and smiled at him, 'just make sure you hold on tight!'

'Ready dad?' Hermione asked, she could see the excitement in his face as he nodded, 'good, just do what Harry said and hold on tight ok?'

'Yes Hermione!'

Harry chuckled.

'On three?' she asked Harry. Harry nodded.

'One…two…three.'

Harry and Hermione turned on the spot and the four of them vanished.

They reappeared instantly in the front yard of the Burrow to the sound of the chickens clucking and the occasional waft of food smells coming from the house.

'Is it over?' Jan asked in a slightly higher voice than usual.

'Yes Mrs Granger, I got you here safe and sound, and more importantly in one piece!'

'Thank you Harry, don't think I was questioning your ability to apparate I just don't particularly like the experience, and how many times have I told you? Call me Jan please!'

Harry smiled.

The four started walking towards the door. It was ajar when Harry went to knock, letting out the hot air that the stove was making.

'Mrs Weas- Molly?' he called.

'Harry! Hermione! How are you?' Molly said as she bustled over to the door, giving them each a hug in turn.

'Charles, Jan! So good to see you again, it's been far too long since we saw you last.

'I know, we are sorry, but thank you ever so much for inviting us tonight,' Jan replied.

'Oh not at all, not at all.'

'We brought wine Molly,' Hermione called from the other side of the kitchen after she had hung her coat on the coat stand. She held up the bottle and gestured to the one that Jan was holding.

'Really you shouldn't have, but thank you all the same.'

'Is there anything I can do to help?' asked Jan.

'Oh no dear, everything is cooking away, I insist the four of you go into the lounge and have a drink with Arthur, if he hasn't fallen asleep on the sofa.

'I heard that Molly!' Arthur shouted from the lounge. A moment later he appeared in the doorway and strode through the kitchen to give both Charles and Jan quite a violent handshake. Hermione giggled at the sight.

'What would we all like to drink? Ah, I see we have wine! Personally I prefer Firewhiskey but all the same, and of course we have the muggle beer, which Harry gave me for my birthday.'

'You still haven't finished that?' asked Harry amazed, it had been well over two months since Arthur's birthday.

'Dad likes to keep it for special occasions, don't you dad?' Ginny had just appeared from the lounge and walked over to Harry who wrapped his arm around her waist.

'Well I think this counts as a special occasion doesn't it? Would you care to join me in having a beer Charles?'

'I would love one thanks Arthur.'

He followed Arthur through to the room adjoining the kitchen where Arthur kept his stash of muggle beer. When they emerged Charles was explaining to Arthur what a widget was and how it worked. Hermione and Harry giggled as they overheard the conversation.

'When's everyone else arriving mum?' Ginny asked Molly, 'I know Fred and George won't be here 'til seven but what about the rest?'

'Well, Bill and Fleur are coming straight from Gringotts so they should be here about half past six. Charlie and Amy could appear at anytime seeing as though they've taken the week off from work which is why they both can come tonight.'

'Is Percy showing his sorry face?'

'Ginny don't be rude about your brother!'

'Well is he?'

'He said he would pop in after dinner as he's working late at the Ministry.'

'My arse he is!' Ginny mumbled, meaning only for Harry and Hermione to hear. Unfortunately Molly heard as well.

'Ginny! Percy may have made mistakes in the past but he _is_ sorry.'

'_I_ haven't had an apology! Neither has Harry for when he tried to turn Ron against him! The only reason he's not coming is because he's scared to be in a confined space with me, Fred and George!'

Hermione had noticed through Ginny's little rant that Molly was turning a dangerous shade of red. She had gently stood on Harry's foot to get his attention, and when he looked at her she glanced at Molly with wide eyes to get her point across. He realised the danger and decided to step in.

'Gin, why don't we finish setting the table, are we eating in the lounge Molly?'

Molly seemed to calm slightly at the sound of Harry's voice and she turned towards him.

'No dear, there are too many of us and we decided it was a shame to sit inside on such a lovely evening.'

'I suppose it is,' he replied.

'Oh, and we were going to show Charles what wizard duels were like weren't we? We can do that after tea, or beforehand if everyone gets here early enough.'

'What's that Ginny?' Arthur asked from the other side of the kitchen, him and Charles having been oblivious to the previous conversation between the young witch and her mother, 'Duelling?'

'Well, not for real, we were going to show Charles how wizards duels went.'

'I was telling mum and dad about duelling practice at work and it's a bit hard to explain, so we said we'd demonstrate tonight.' Hermione explained.

'Sounds like excellent fun!' Arthur exclaimed, but seeing Molly's look of concern, added, 'as long as everyone's careful of course!'

Chatter fell into happy and lengthy conversations. The next to arrive at the Burrow were Charlie and Amy. Strangely, Charles and Jan had already met Amy but not Charlie. On the one occasion Charles and Jan had visited Ron in hospital, Amy had done the same on behalf of his elder brother. After the introductions were over the eight of them went into the garden to start setting up the tables for dinner, leaving Molly in the kitchen to tend to the food. Bill and Fleur were the next to arrive, and again, Charles and Jan were introduced to the eldest of the Weasley children and his wife.

Twenty minutes later Fred and George arrived and the volume level greatly increased and so did the amount of laughter ringing through the house. It was probably a bad idea, Harry thought, to tell them about the duelling with enough time for them to come up with some huge practical joke. If anything was going to happen then they were hardly going to let on before the event.

At five to seven everyone was sat around the table except for Molly and Jan – who had insisted on helping serve the food. They were to-ing and fro-ing, carrying (and levitating) food out into the garden but at seven on the dot everyone was sat at the table.

Mr Weasley walked round the table pouring those who didn't have a drink, a glass of wine from the bottle Jan had brought with her. When he got back to his seat he remained standing. Hermione stood and picked up her glass and then the rest followed. Hermione had forgotten to tell her parents that they did this, but luckily they followed suit and stood, picking up their glasses as they did so. Mr Weasley cleared his throat.

'We remember those who died fighting the noble fight, who fought selflessly to keep our world from darkness and suffering, and those who stopped at nothing, doing not what was easy, but what was right. They are remembered.'

He raised his glass and everyone followed.

'They are remembered,' the rest of the people around the table said proudly.

It was a small gesture, but one that was performed before every meal in the Weasley household, and many others throughout the wizarding community. Although it was those who had fallen who were the subject of the gesture, every one of the Weasleys, Fleur, Amy, Charles, Jan, Harry and Hermione said a silent prayer that Ron would be returned to them soon.


	17. Chapter 17 Duelling Demonstrations

**Hey peeps! 'Nother one for you to read, let me know what you think. Tis the ball next which brings something interesting to the table so to speak. Anyway, hope you like this one. Please R &R ;)**

**Sarah XxXxX ;)**

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Chapter 17

'Right then!' exclaimed Arthur, making the rest of the group jump in their seats, 'who's going to be the first demonstrators?'

It had been a wonderful meal, and everyone was full to bursting after being offered seconds of everything. The wine and beer had flowed freely and everyone was cheerful, talking in small groups as they had done whilst they were eating.

'Harry and Hermione!' said Ginny which received glares from both of them, 'well it was your idea Harry, and Hermione you're probably the only one who can give him a real challenge!'

'Hardly!' Hermione protested, but that was as far as she got. Harry had stood up and was dragging her off her seat.

'Come on Hermione, I'll be gentle!'

'You'd better be,' she said, eventually standing.

'Any rules?' Harry asked Arthur.

'Err _yes!_' Hermione replied for him. Arthur smiled.

'Obviously no harsh spells, light to moderate hexes and jinxes only, we'll make the spells verbal for demonstration purposes, and if during the beginning phase you could wait after each part so I can explain to Charles and Jan what you're doing, that would be lovely!'

'Sounds fair enough, doesn't it H?'

'Yes Harry,' she replied,

The pair of them walked away from the table, far enough away that any rebounding spells probably wouldn't hit anyone still sat there but near enough so the observers would hear their spell casting. They stopped and faced each other, wands held upright an inch from their noses.

'Now traditionally this pose was the official challenge from one wizard-'

'Or witch!' Ginny added.

'Yes alright Ginny, from one of the wizards or witches to the other.'

Harry and Hermione put their wand hands down by their sides and pointed their wands at the ground.

'That means that both of them have accepted the challenge and are ready to duel,' said Arthur to Hermione's parents.

'Ready Saviour Boy?'

'Oh so it's gonna be like that is it? Right then, no more Mr. Nice Saviour Boy for you then, pen-exploder!'

'Oooh! Harsh words from the Wizard-kind Wonder!'

Harry's eyes widened.

'You know the more you insult me the less nice I'm going to be.'

'Less nice? Great grammar there Saviour Boy.'

'Ok then, sod the niceties this is war Granger!' he said trying to hide the smirk on his face

'Bring it on Potter!' she replied, failing to do the same

They spun on the spot and walked five paces forward. On their fifth step they turned to face each other, wand arm raised, the other raised above their heads and pointing to the other.

'This is the traditional duelling stance,' commented Arthur, 'now when duelling was a more…what's the word?'

'Noble?' Hermione answered, not taking her eyes off Harry as she did so.

'Yes Hermione, that's exactly it. When it was a noble art then this stance was nearly always executed before duelling, however nowadays the general requirement is that your wand is pointing in the vague direction of your attacker, facing them normally helps but is not always essential. Anyway, are you two ready?'

Hermione looked at Harry, he was concentrating, she could see that. _Dammit!_ Why did I have to wind him up? She knew Harry's duelling style well, there were two things he would either do, regardless of which he did, he would do it the split second after Arthur said to start. He would either try and disarm Hermione, or try and protect himself with the shield charm. To be fair, Hermione would do the same thing. Maybe it was the wine finally reaching her head, but she decided to be brave and use the offensive technique as opposed to the defensive. But then again, Harry had a twinkle in his eye…

'Yes,' replied Harry,

'Yes,' replied Hermione, making sure she sounded as confident as Harry.

'Ok then, after three,' Charles and Jan watched hardly breathing in anticipation, 'One – two – three!'

Harry and Hermione cast their spells at exactly the same time.

'Expelliarmus!' shouted Hermione, a little louder than was absolutely necessary.

'Rictusempra!' Harry shouted just as loud.

Hermione watched hers and Harry's spells skim each other in mid-air exactly halfway between the two of them.

_Rictusempra?_ Thought Hermione, I knew that twinkle meant something! She just had chance to realise Harry was playing dirty before she had to produce a shield charm to rebound Harry's jinx.

'Protego!' she shouted, and the spell was rebounded away from her.

Instead of Harry producing a shield charm he simply moved out of the way of Hermione's disarmer.

Harry took advantage of Hermione using her wand to defend herself and sent another spell at her.

'Stupify!' he yelled.

Hermione copied Harry's earlier move and simply dodged the spell stepping two paces to the left.

'Petrificus Totalus!' Harry ducked the spell which was closely followed by another from Hermione. At the same time she sent it his way he sent the same one back at her. They looked at each other and caught one another's gaze, both having a fleeting vision of the last time they used their wands to do battle. It wasn't for long but they were both distracted from what they were doing.

A split second too late they reacted to the spells, but they were both hit at exactly the same time by each other's stunners and both crumpled to the ground.

Laughter erupted around the unconscious pair, initiated by Fred and George. Charles and Jan's slightly worried expressions disappeared when Arthur reassured them they would be awake in seconds. Him and Ginny walked over to the unconscious witch and wizard. Ginny stood over Hermione and waved her wand, the elder witch opened her eyes and focused on Ginny. Her eyes widened as she remembered what had happened, she sat upright and grabbed Ginny's outstretched hand to help her stand. She looked up and saw that Harry was doing exactly the same thing.

'_Rictusempra?'_ she exclaimed walking towards Harry.

'_Petrificus?'_ he replied at the same volume.

'I only did that because you seemed intent on torturing me with tickling!'

Harry grinned, Hermione couldn't help but smile.

'I just wanted to make things interesting for our audience.

'I can't believe we stunned each other after about thirty seconds. We're supposed to be better than that!'

'I know, I'm glad no one from work saw, that would have been highly embarrassing!'

The two of them walked back to the table laughing, both choosing to forget the memories that flitted into their brains before they were stunned. The final battle was something that was not going to be forgotten quickly, they had learned to live with that.

'Who's next?' Arthur asked.

'Fred and George,' replied Harry, Hermione and Ginny simultaneously. The rest of the group nodded and smiled in agreement.

'Well Fred, it looks like we are wanted for entertainment purposes.' George said loudly.

'Well who are we to deny these good people what they want. Ladies and Gentlemen prepare to be dazzled by exceptional duelling skills!' his twin replied.

Hermione noted the twinkle the both of them had in their eyes, she looked at Ginny and Harry, both of them raised their eyebrows. They had seen it too, and all three took it as a sign that this was going to be interesting and no doubt highly amusing!

It wasn't so much as a lesson in duelling, as a highly entertaining routine that involved tricks, jokes, jinxes and a lot of explosions, and one which showcased a few of the twin's new product ranges. Apparently they had developed their shield hats to a new level: they were now invisible, so spells and jinxes bounced off the wearer with no obvious reason why. Their joke wands now sent fireworks into the air when used and their darkness powder now came in a variety of colours and glittery shades, just because!

After a good ten minutes the 'show' was over and the applause went on for minutes. Everyone had tears streaming down their faces from laughing so hard and Hermione, Harry and Ginny were doubled over. The evening continued in a very happy way, when it got dark, magical fires were lit around the table. Duelling continued between various pairings, but was put a stop to when it was obvious the alcohol was flowing far too freely for it to continue in a safe manner.

Charles was introduced to Firewhiskey, which he very much enjoyed, and the younger of the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione decided to make their Butterbeer a bit more potent by adding some of the strong stuff to it. It had to be said that they were drinking the most, but it was the adults that were behaving the worst, talking at unnecessary volumes and dancing in very lavish ways around the garden. The wizards were highly entertained by muggle stories, and the muggles the same with various tales of mishaps with wands and experimental spells.

Hermione was sat on a chair, her knees pulled up to her chest, a smile on her face as she half listened to the stories being told, and as she watched her mum and Arthur dance their way around the table. There was only one thing that could have made tonight perfect. She imagined Ron walking through the garden and placing his hands over eyes, asking 'guess who,' before picking her up from her chair and kissing her.

She closed her eyes, and felt two hands cover them.

'Guesshoo?'

She jumped up from the chair and spun round to see who was stood behind her.

'What?' Harry asked, startled by her reaction.

Hermione swayed slightly, the alcohol affecting her balance, her ability to focus and, now she came to think about it, her ability of rational thought.

'Nothing,' she said, 'I just thought you were someone else.'

'Who?'

'No one,'

'Pfff! Come one Hermione, you'll have to do better that than!'

'That than? Don't you mean than that?' she replied smiling at his mistake.

'That's what I said!'

Hermione giggled, a lot more than was necessary for the situation.

'Where's Ginny?'

'She fell asleep!' Harry replied with a sigh, 'I think she was tired.'

Hermione laughed again.

'Well Harry, generally if you fall asleep you were tired before you did. Otherwise you wouldn't have fallen asleep, unless of course you drank a sleeping potion; that would put you to sleep too. Oh and if someone jinxed you would be unconscious, but that's not really the same. Is it?'

'What? The only part of that sentence I got was 'Is it?''

This caused Hermione to laugh again, and this time Harry joined in. They were both drunk but still able to, just about, hold a conversation. Hermione fell quite, her mind wandering back to where it had been before Harry scared her.

'Harry when do you think Ron'll wake up? He's been asleep for weeks now, he can't be _that_ tired.'

'It's Ron, of course he can be that tired!'

'Don't be silly Harry, no one can be that tired that they'd sleep for weeks on end!'

'I know 'Mione, he'll wake up when he's ready. Do you miss him?'

'I miss him _so_ much, I love him _so_ much too.'

'Well that's good, 'cause he loves you too.'

Neither of them says anything for a minute. Harry grabbed the back of the chair Hermione was sat on, as he had started to sway dangerously.

'Hermione would you like to dance?'

'What?'

'Would you like to dance? It's a simple question and I'm swaying already so I might as well do it with someone in time to the music.'

He laughed at his own joke and Hermione joined in.

'Well then yes, Harry Potter, I would like to dance.'

He walked around the chair and put his arms around Hermione's waist. At first it was Hermione supporting Harry, but then the constant swaying got to Hermione and Harry needed to support her too. They didn't realise the time passing, each immersed in their own drunken thoughts to notice. It was well into the small hours when the group realised how cold it had actually gotten, the alcohol they had consumed doing a brilliant job at keeping them warm. Hermione and Harry, amazingly, got Hermione's parents home, although the two of them appeared in completely the wrong rooms, Harry in the downstairs bathroom with Jan, and Hermione in her parents bedroom with Charles, but none of the four seemed to notice.

Harry and Hermione bade farewell to the two of them and then apparated arm in arm home. Hermione managed to remember to drink some water before she crawled into her bed. Thinking she wasn't that drunk after all, she reached for her book off her nightstand and started to read, however after trying to read a few lines she realised she was holding the book upside down. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, intent on opening them in a minute and right her book, but she never managed to open her eyes, dreamless sleep washed over her in waves, not even interrupted when her book landed with a loud thud on the floor.


	18. Chapter 18 Shopping Trip

**Well hello there! Happy Easter to one and all, hope everyone's eaten loads of chocolate!**

**Nother chapter for you perusal, let me know what you think. Much appreciated.**

**Sarah XxXxX ;)**

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Chapter 18

'Maroon Harry? I thought you were going for green again,' Ginny had just arrived at Harry and Hermione's house and was observing Harry turning around in front of Hermione's full-length mirror.

'Well, I set out just going for a replacement set of robes but Madam Malkin said I should try something different and new. You don't like them do you?'

Ginny stifled a yawn and shook her head.

'No, it's not that I don't like them, I just- wow!'

'_What_?' Harry whined, thinking about the extra time he would have to spend shopping for some more dress robes.

'Nothing, I just noticed your eyes, they err, they really stand out! Turn this way.'

Harry turned towards Ginny

'I can change them on Monday after work.'

'No don't, they're really smart and your eyes look really…really striking and…sexy!'

A grin spread across Harry's face and he walked up to Ginny and gave her a slightly enthusiastic kiss hello.

'Oi! Not in my bedroom thank you!'

Ginny looked around Harry and the door, which had been obscuring her view of most of the room, and saw Hermione led on her bed reading.

'Oh, sorry Hermione,' Ginny apologised, 'didn't know you were there.'

'Yes well I am! So how are you this afternoon Gin? Recovered from last night?'

'Yeah just about, bit tired, but then again I fell asleep didn't I? So I can't really complain!'

Hermione smiled.

'Well I'm sure you looked better than Harry did this morning, I think I can safely say that Harry's eyes were neither striking nor sexy when he woke up this morning!'

'Aww, were you a bit rough this morning my darling?' Ginny asked Harry, stroking his face with her thumb.

'Just a little bit.'

'Aww bless you.'

'How about you Hermione?'

'I was fine thank you very much, Butterbeer and Firewhiskey I can handle which is strange considering three glasses of wine sends me loopy!'

'Strange girl,' muttered Harry.

Hermione chose to ignore Harry's comment.

'Are you busy this afternoon Ginny?'

'No why?'

'I was just wondering if you had a couple of hours to spare. I need to do the same as Saviour Boy here and buy some new dress robes for the ball, I was wondering if you'd help me.'

'Of course I will, I haven't been shopping in _ages_ and I could do with a bit of time out from revision. It doesn't seem like I've stopped since I started in January for my NEWTs.'

'Good that's settled then, you coming Harry?'

'Not unless you allow me a good hour in Quality Quidditch Supplies, it's a while since I indulged in Quidditch things.'

'Hmm, well I suppose we can allow that, and it's not as if you're gonna complain are you Ginny?'

'Probably not, no! Merlin I wish I had more time to play Quidditch, I really miss the carefree feeling it gives you.'

'Yeah flying's great,' Harry's eyes glazed over, memories of flying and Quidditch filling his brain.

'He-hem! When you've finished daydreaming about Quidditch maybe you could let me know what time you want to go.'

Ginny smiled.

'Well I'm free as of now so it's up to you two.'

'Have you eaten yet?' Hermione asked Ginny.

'No, not yet, I only just had breakfast. I had a lie in,' she said shyly.

'Me too!' replied Harry, 'it's only weird people like Hermione who manage to get up before midday!'

'Hey I'm not weird!'

'Of course not Hermione,' Harry said with a smile, 'I'll just get changed into my jeans and we can go if everyone's ready.'

'Well I only just arrived, so am therefore ready to leave!' replied Ginny.

'Give me a minute to put my shoes on and find my purse. Oh, and I need my Gringotts key if I'm buying dress robes, something tells me three sickles and nine knuts isn't quite going to cut it!'

'No you might need a bit more than that H,' agreed Harry as he left to change into his favourite muggle attire. Ginny stayed in Hermione's room to wait for him.

'Do you know what colour you want Hermione?' the younger witch asked.

'Not really, I've had light blue, I've had light pink, maybe I should go for something more…I dunno, bright and striking. What do you think?'

'Well, you've got brown hair which means you can pretty much go with any colour that you want, not that I'm jealous at all!' Ginny mock scowled, Hermione grinned, 'and if you fancy a change from pale colours how about a scarlet or deep purple, or you could go to the opposite end of the scale and go for black.'

'Yeah, I could go for black,' Hermione said whilst putting her other pair of trainers on, 'and I know it's a good colour for fancy pants clothes, but I can't think of black without thinking of sadness and death, especially after everything that's happened, so I think a really bold colour would be better. I like the idea of red though.'

'Well at least you have an idea of what you want, I'm sure Madam Malkin will have something you'll like, even if she doesn't she can make you some in like a day or so.'

'That's true,' she reached into her work bag and fished out her purse, took her wand off her nightstand and put them both into her other slightly smaller shoulder bag, 'I'll just have to see what takes my fancy. Thanks for helping me Gin, I don't think I have the energy to do this myself!'

'That's ok Hermione, you know I'll help my best friend when she needs fashion advice!'

Hermione smiled, 'Have you decided what you're wearing for the ball yet?'

'I've still got plenty of wear left in the dress robes I bought with my first wage so I'll probably just wear those.'

'Your royal blue ones?'

'Yeah those ones.'

'It has to be said you look amazing in those ones.'

'Aww, thanks H!'

'Are you two ready or are you just stood there gassing?' Harry hollered from the bottom of the stairs.

'I think that's our cue to leave don't you?' Hermione asked Ginny.

'I'd say so.'

The two witches walked down the stairs to find Harry ready to leave.

'In your own time girls, in your own time.'

'We will Harry, don't you worry!' Ginny replied laughing.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs the three of them apparated to Diagon Alley.

After a quick stop off at Gringotts at which all three of them topped up on funds they made their way straight to Madam Malkin's.

Hermione walked along the rows of dress robes, pulling out the occasional one, taking in the detail before putting it back. Ginny was on the other side of the shop doing exactly the same thing and Harry was sat on the chair in the front of the shop reading the day's Daily Prophet, knowing that his job was to give his opinion only when asked to.

Hermione and Ginny picked out four sets of robes for Hermione to try on in the small changing room. She came out wearing a set of dark purple robes made of floaty material with spaghetti straps and a diagonal line in the material.

'What do you think?' she asked Ginny.

'They're nice but I think the red ones will suit you better.'

'Yeah me too, I'll try those next.'

She disappeared again and three minutes later emerged again, this time wearing the bright red dress robes, which had caught her eye almost instantly. The top was a corset with ribbon to fasten it, (wands were _so_ handy when it came to doing them up on your own) and the skirt was ankle length with a kick at the bottom and a slit up the left hand side. Ginny walked up to Hermione, she had been getting the position of the Chudley Cannons in the league table from Harry, and was surprised to see they were fourth from bottom, their highest position in years!

'Oh wow, they're much better, do you like them?'

Hermione smiled, 'Yeah I do, the colour's stunning; I thought it would be quite scary on me but it's really nice. Harry, what do you think?' she said slightly louder so Harry would hear.

Harry glanced up and his eyes widened.

'Wow Hermione, you look…great! Really pretty!'

'Thanks Harry!' Hermione replied with a grin on her face.

'Close your mouth Potter!' Ginny said, pretending to be annoyed, which Harry fell for instantly.

'No I didn't mean, I…I…'

Ginny started laughing, 'Stop stressing Harry, I'm just winding you up!'

'Works every time!' Ginny mumbled, Hermione laughed.

'So are you going to try the others on or are you going to take the plunge and get those?'

'I feel like I _should_ try the others on, but I don't think I'm going to like them as much as I like these!'

'Well then you should just get those then!'

'I think I will! Wow, that was much easier than I thought it would be. Oh, wait, do you think I should have the skirt taken up a bit, or is it ok this length?'

'Well you won't know until you decide what shoes you're wearing with it.'

'That's true.'

'Can I just point out I agreed only to dress robe shopping, not to shoe shopping!' Harry added from the other side of the shop, peering over the top of the paper.

'You're in luck Saviour Boy, I think I have some shoes that will go, so if Ginny agrees with me you'll be saved of shoe shopping.'

'I'll believe _that_ when I'm in Quality Quidditch Supplies!' He went back to his paper.

'Which shoes were you thinking Hermione?' asked Ginny.

'My silver strappy sandals, I have a matching bag so that's,' she raised her voice, '_another thing we don't have to shop for!_'

Harry turned the page of the paper, still not believing a word Hermione said.

'I think they would work, if they're the ones I think I remember seeing you wearing then yes, definitely.'

'Good, are you sure they look ok?' Hermione asked, showing her one last thread of insecurity.

'Yes Hermione, you look beautiful, now take them off before you change your mind.'

Hermione smiled, 'Ok, I'll be out in a minute!'

It was actually five minutes later that Hermione emerged from the changing room, having checked nearly every inch of the fabric for plucks and pulled seems. When she was finally happy she took the four sets of dress robes out into the shop and gave the three she didn't want to Madam Malkin, who apologised profusely for not helping them more, but she had been busy with another customer the entire time they had been there. Hermione paid for the robes and shocked the still-reading Harry when she stood in front of him, robes safely in the paper bag, ready to leave the shop.

'Really?' he asked, 'Are you sure this isn't a cruel plan to get me all happy only to tell me you have at least five hours worth of shopping still to do?'

'Yes Harry, I'm sure, now lets get the staring at the latest racing broom over and done with shall we?'

'If you insist Hermione, if you insist.'

They left the shop and headed straight for the sporting store. Ginny and Harry spoke excitedly about the mark three Firebolt that was on display in front of them (imperturbable charms placed on every inch of it,) and Hermione looked at the new Chudley Cannons robes and merchandise available to their adoring and extremely loyal friends. After a mere half an hour in the shop Ginny and Harry had had enough of looking at something that neither one of them had a good enough reason to buy, both of them having perfectly good brooms themselves.

Because the three of them had expected to be trailing around shop after shop looking for dress robes and various accessories, they had nothing else planned for the rest of their Saturday afternoon. They were now hungry for some food - having only eaten breakfast a couple of hours earlier - so they went to their favourite restaurant and indulged, especially on puddings.

The rest of the afternoon was spent lazing around in the garden at the Burrow, laughing with the twins when they dropped in for their weekly visit home, and just relaxing and soaking up what they thought would probably be the last of August's hot sun, with September, and the ball they had been talking about for most of the day, just around the corner.


	19. Chapter 19 Preperations Helped

**Hello there! Nother update for you, I really did mean to get to the actual nitty gritty about the ball, this was just supposed to be the start of the chapter, however, I seem to have waffled on a bit more than I thought I was! Never mind. The ball is next! lol.**

**Enjoy (and review)**

**Sarah ;)**

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Chapter 19

Hermione surveyed herself in her full-length mirror, turning round to see as much of herself as was physically possible without permanently damaging her neck. She had just put her robes on after doing her hair and make-up and was making a judgement on the final effect. Her hair was hanging down her back in loose curls with half of it pulled back into a ponytail.

It was normally easy to tell how enthusiastic Hermione was about a party or a ball by the style of her hair; the more extravagant the style, the more she was looking forward to the event. So the fact that tonight she had only managed a half ponytail was very telling. She still looked pretty and no one would make the connection except for her…and probably Ginny.

'Hermione,' Harry called, walking across the landing towards Hermione's bedroom, 'do you think I should try controlling my hair with this?'

He held out a tub of Sleekeazy's Stubborn Hair Tamer, the contents of which looked similar to muggle hair gel, however this stuff was solid until warmed through. He looked up at Hermione and smiled.

'You look beautiful Hermione, I'm really glad you decided to go.'

Hermione smiled, her nervousness about the coming night showing through.

'What's wrong H? You've not changed your mind have you? You _are_ still going?'

'I didn't spend a fortune on new dress robes for nothing Harry. Don't worry, I'm still going.'

'Then why the not-so-convincing smile?'

'I dunno, I guess I'm just nervous and a bit upset that Ron's not here getting ready too. He should be, but he isn't'

'I know he should, but he'd want you to go and enjoy yourself.'

'Yeah, it's just hard. After everything that we went through he deserves to be living a normal life, playing Quidditch, going to work, going to balls and having a life. But he isn't.'

Harry took a deep breath wondering whether to tell Hermione what was going through his mind. He hadn't told her this before; he didn't want to upset her, bringing Ron back into her thoughts. But he was always going to be there regardless of what anyone said to her, and he knew she'd find it comforting before tonight. He decided to tell her.

'Hermione, you remember the night before the final battle when Ron gave you your ring?'

Hermione looked at her hand and smiled.

'How could I forget?' she said quietly.

'Well a couple of hours before he gave it to you, we disappeared for a bit.'

Hermione thought for a second before remembering seeing them arrive in the kitchen. She hadn't seen them for at least half an hour, but then again, she had been helping Molly make the dinner.

'Before dinner that night?' she asked, 'you both came in looking weird but refused to tell me why.'

'Yeah, that was it. Well Ron and me had been talking. He asked me if he could have a word and I was quite relieved actually as I'd wanted to do the same. I had some things I wanted to say and ask him so we went to Ron's room and talked. He made me promise him something. He made me promise to look after you if anything happened to him. He wanted me to make sure you got on with your life if he died, and he said I had to give you a kick up the arse if you didn't.'

This raised a smile from Hermione, he mirrored the action.

'Look, I know it's not really the same, 'cause he didn't die that night, but he was still taken from us, and until he drags his lazy arse out of bed it'll be just as hard. But if he could see you now, he'd tell you how proud of you he was and how he'd want you to enjoy yourself at every opportunity because we didn't fight to save our way of life for nothing.

'So tonight we are going to go to this ball, grit our teeth through the formal dancing, and any thank you speeches that may include our names, drink a little too much, but not enough to give us a rough time tomorrow and then dance like hell when the proper music finally gets played. Ok?'

Hermione laughed.

'Yeah, ok.'

'Good.'

'Thanks Harry.'

'What for?'

'For telling me what Ron had asked you to do. Sometimes I don't know what I'd do without you and Ginny. I forget that you two get as upset as I do over what happened to him.'

'Well, when Ginny's upset I remind her of what Ron made me promise to do, which was t-'

'You don't have to tell me that Harry, Ron said those things for Ginny, not me.'

'Well he meant them for you too.'

'Well in that case save them for another day. Harry, I promise you I'll try and do what Ron said but there will be the odd day when I just want to hide away and be sad.'

'I know, we all do it. There has to be a balance between happiness and sadness.'

'Exactly.'

'So what should I do about this?'

He pointed to his hair and brought the small tub up to Hermione's eye line.

'Harry, do you honestly think there is _anything_ in the world that could tame your hair?'

'Probably not, no.'

'And to be fair, people wouldn't recognise you without your hair sticking up at every angle.'

'That's true, but still…'

'Look, how about a compromise. Do you still have that muggle hair gel that you foolishly thought would work?'

Harry screwed up his face in concentration, trying to remember which drawer he unceremoniously stuffed it into out of frustration.

'Yeah, I think so.'

'Well why don't you put a _bit_, and only a bit onto your hands and run it through your hair. That way it will at least _look_ like you styled it that way, even thought you haven't really!'

Harry grinned.

'I think I might just do that. Cheers H!'

'You're welcome Saviour Boy!'

Harry left to do his hair, his maroon robes swishing out of sight as he walked into his bedroom'

Hermione turned to look at herself in the mirror once more and this time with a smile on her face. She picked her wand off her bed and in one fluid motion put her hair into her favourite style for formal events. She looked down at her ring and twirled it around on her finger.

'I'll do enough dancing for the both of us Ron. I love you. Sweet dreams.'


	20. Chapter 20 Ballroom Antics

Chapter 20

Hermione, Harry and Ginny arrived at the Ministry of Magic at quarter to eight. They walked through the Atrium to the golden gates at the other end. All but two of the lifts were available for use.

'Which floor are we going to?' Harry asked, having forgotten the information he had briefly read on his invitation before they left.

'Two below apparently,' Hermion replied.

She leant forward and pressed the button to call the lift.

'Have you ever been to that floor?' Harry asked Hermione.

'Nope,' she replied, 'you?'

'No.'

'Ok, then,' Ginny said, 'well I hope there's directions, otherwise you two'll probably get us lost for eternity down there.'

They all laughed and the lift doors opened. Harry pressed the button on the panel and the doors shut before the lift started to descend.

They emerged from the lift straight into a large room, not as large as Hogwarts' Great Hall but still very large. There were mirror balls hanging from the ceiling the length and breadth of the room and the tables that outlined the dance floor were covered with gold and silver tablecloths, and had a cluster of seven candles in the middle of each one.

Everyone was stood on the dance floor as if waiting for an announcement to tell them they could take their seats.

'Well I guess we don't need directions then!' Ginny said laughing. Harry and Hermione laughed.

The three of them stepped forward and took a champagne flute off the table that awaited them. Hermione looked at the crowd, trying to pick out the people she knew. She saw Cairo stood talking to Nick, he was wearing what looked like black robes, but as the light off a mirror ball passed over him she saw they were midnight navy. Cairo turned around and caught her eye. She waved at him and he walked over to them as Harry, Hermione and Ginny started to make their way to the group, weaving in between two tables to get there.

'Good evening Cairo how are you?' Hermione said.

'Hermione _please_ call me Cai!' he replied.

Hermione giggled, 'Oops, sorry. I just don't seem to be able to remember to shorten it!'

Cairo smiled.

'Hi Harry, how are you?'

'I'm fine thanks, you know Ginny don't you?'

'Yeah I do, how's Healer training Gin?'

'Damn hard work, but I'm sure it'll be worth it in five years time!'

'Well, to be fair, you knew exactly what you were getting yourself in to, you have only yourself to blame!'

'Yes, _thank you_ Cai, you don't have to rub it in! How are you finding Auror training?' she took a sip from her glass and grimaced at the taste

Cairo laughed at the look on her face. 'Nasty isn't it? Training's great, I'm really enjoying it. It's hard though, I just hope I'm good enough to be taken through to the higher training.'

'Well, I'm sure if you work hard, you'll do just that.'

'What's going on Cai? Why is everyone stood like they're waiting for a bus?' Harry asked.

'To be honest I don't know, I came in and everyone was stood there. We're not sure how we're being seated, whether it's a free-for-all or whether we have been placed at specific tables.'

'It's not that formal is it? It's not exactly a wedding reception!' Hermione replied.

'Come on,' Cairo said, 'let's see if they've figured anything else out.' He turned and started walking back towards the group, Hermione, Harry and Ginny followed.

The three new arrivals chatted easily with the others who had arrived before them, and did the same to the people who arrived and joined them in the middle of the hall. At eight o'clock the few lights that were on went out and a spotlight went on at the front of the hall. From what seemed like nowhere, which in fact turned out to be a group of Aurors huddled at the side of the room, emerged Rufus Scrimgeour.

'What the hell's he doing here? Maybe this thing is _that_ formal!' Hermione whispered. She wasn't the only one to be doing so, frantic whispering had broken out across the whole of the congregation.

'Sonorus!' The Minister said, although it was hardly necessary as there wasn't a word being said by anyone in the entire hall.

'Welcome everyone to the first of what we hope we will many balls for our Auror trainees. It came as a surprise to many of the members of the Ministry of Magic when myself and the heads of the Auror office decided to increase the amount of people we recruited into the Auror training programme.

'The past couple of years have been extremely hard on everyone in the wizarding community, and because of the circumstances there was no one recruited to the programme. We simply could not afford to spend time training new recruits when there was so much death and destruction happening in not just our world but in the muggle world too.

'We hope with all out hearts-' Hermione noticed Harry snort in disbelief that the Minister actually had a heart, 'that past events will not repeat themselves, but we have made a conscious effort within the Ministry to prevent anything like that happening again, and that started with recruiting more witches and wizards than ever before to Auror training.

'As you were all told when you applied for the programme, all of you will be trained to the basic level required to become an Auror, but only a select few will be asked to carry on training to a higher level and become what we hope will be the next generation of extremely highly skilled crime-fighting wizards and witches. Regardless of whether you are selected, every single one of you will contribute to the Ministry of Magic in an extremely important way, and I wish you all the very best of luck.'

'I would like to finish by making a toast. Does everyone have a drink?' There was shuffling as a couple of people picked up their glasses they had stood on the tables around the hall.

'Well I have a glass with something inside it, I wouldn't exactly call it a drink!' Ginny said.

Harry, Hermione and Cairo all laughed quietly at her comment.

'Good,' Scrimgeour continued, 'I'd like you to all raise a glass in remembrance of those who were lost in the fight against the wizard we all feared. To those who fought bravely in the face of what, at one point felt like an impossible challenge to overcome. We thank them.'

Murmurs of 'we thank them' filled the hall and the crowd collectively drank from their glasses, a couple wincing at the taste of their drink like Ginny had. Cairo said the same words, but out of habit more than anything else, Harry, Hermione and Ginny said, 'They are remembered.'

Cairo looked at Hermione with a puzzled expression on his face.

'I'll tell you later,' she whispered to him.

'Thank God that's over!' Harry said as the Minister drank deeply from his glass. He turned and glanced around the rest of the room.

'One final thing-' the Minister added,

'Crap!' Harry said quietly, Hermione and Ginny grinned.

'If we could all raise our glasses one more time to one man stood in this hall who we all owe a great deal.'

'Oh please no!' Harry said grimacing.

'You didn't think you'd get away with no public embarrassment tonight did you Harry?' Hermione asked her increasingly reddening housemate.

'I am talking of course about Harry Potter. To Harry!'

Another spotlight found Harry in the crowd on the floor, Ginny and Hermione automatically moved away from the light leaving him on his own in the white circle. He smiled the gracious smile he had had to perfect over the months.

'To Harry,' the group said, louder than they had made the first toast.

The light moved back to the Minister, who, apparently, still had not had enough of the spotlight.

'I would like to ask Harry to officially open the ball by leading the first dance tonight. Harry if you would take to the floor with your partner please.'

The light was back on Harry, the shocked look on his face illuminated for everyone to see. This time Hermione was too slow to react to the light and Scrimgeour noticed her standing next to Harry.

'Ah Miss. Granger is here as well! Marvellous! We all know how much you helped Harry so if you wouldn't mind joining Harry with your partner too.'

Harry turned towards Hermione and laughed. Her face wasn't too far off the colour of her dress robes. Cairo was also laughing.

'Oh big mistake Cai, big mistake!' she said.

Harry had started walking – reluctantly is has to be said – to the middle of the dance floor with Ginny in tow. Hermione turned towards Cairo and grabbed his hand.

'If I'm doing this then you're coming with me!' she said to a shocked Cairo.

'_No way_!' he replied.

They were both still stood in the spotlight and the slow waltz was starting up. The rest of the group had moved to the sides of the floor to make room for the dancers.

'This'll teach you not to laugh at the unfortunate, won't it?' she said with a glint in her eye, 'Come on!'

She pulled him towards the centre of the floor, at first he resisted but he didn't want to leave Hermione without a partner after she had been asked by the Minister of Magic to open the dancing.

The lights went up and the mirror balls sent light into every part of the room. Harry desperately tried to remember the steps Ginny had taught him at Bill and Fleur's wedding, but she took charge and managed to lead him without making it obvious to the onlookers.

'Do you know how to waltz?' Cairo asked Hermione.'

'Actually I do. That would be lesson one in the highly embarrassing country dancing lessons, last year of primary school.'

'You did those _too_?'

Hermione laughed.

'Basic waltz after three then?' she asked.

'Sounds good to me! One – Two – Three.'

The two of them started dancing and moving around the floor. Both couples looked graceful as they glided across the dance floor. A round of applause for them preceded other couples starting to dance along with them, some waltzing, others rotating on the spot.

When the slow waltz had finished a faster dance started up. Some people went to the bar, which Hermione noticed when they were dancing and some took the initiative and just sat where they wanted to.

Ginny and Harry walked up to Hermione and Cairo who had finished their dance.

'We're gonna get ourselves a table. You coming?' Ginny asked Hermione. Her and Harry started walking towards a table.

'Yep,' she answered. She turned to Cairo, 'Cai, do you want to sit with us?'

'Err…yeah if you don't mind. Can Michaela and Euan sit with us too?'

'Yeah sure. Just come over when you've found them.'

'Will do, see you in a bit.'

Hermione walked over to the table Harry and Ginny had claimed as theirs and took the seat next to Ginny.

'Is Cai sitting with us H?' Harry asked Hermione.

'Yeah he is, so are Michaela and Euan if that's ok.'

'They're in your group aren't they?'

'Yes. We're they in your year Ginny.'

'Erm…I think so, hang on let me think…yeah, Michaela was in Hufflepuff and Euan was in…oh! He was in Ravenclaw. I think they got together last year at school. Michaela can be a bit stuck when she wants to be but Euan's alright.'

'Yeah I've found that at work sometimes, but then again no one's perfect are they?'

'No they're not, and life would be pretty boring if everyone was wouldn't it?' Harry added.

'How very philosophical of you Harry, and you're right too!'

'Don't sound so surprised!' Harry exclaimed making Ginny and Hermione laugh.

'Can we please get something nice to drink, the person who tried to pass this off as champagne needs they're taste buds testing!'

'Not the best is it?' Hermione agreed, 'I'll go get everyone a drink.' What do you want?'

'The usual please H,' Harry replied.

'Gin?'

'_No_ Hermione, you know I _can't stand_ the stuff!'

Harry laughed at his own joke.

'Harry that was barely funny when you came up with it, never mind two years later,' Hermione retorted with a smile on her face.

'Why are you smiling then?'

'Have you looked at your girlfriend?'

Harry turned to face Ginny and saw she had put her fist in her mouth to stop her laughing out loud, she was shaking with laughter and tears were starting to form in her eyes. Harry started laughing at her. After a couple of minutes Harry and Ginny showed no sign of stopping their laughing fit.

'Right well I think I'll just go and get the drinks, otherwise I could be stood here all night. I'll be back in a few minutes.'


	21. Chapter 21 Melted Butter

**Hiya! I know things have been going a bit slowly but it was all necessary build up to what happens in the next few chapters. Compared to the last one this is well short, but there was a natural break. You'll see what I mean with the next one. The next three...four...three are written so updates should come pretty quickly. Hope you like it. Please Read & Review.**

**Cheers ;)**

**Step**

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Chapter 21 

When Hermione reached the bar she opened her purse and took a few coins out ready for when it was her turn to be served. She was looking at the bottles stood behind the bar when someone dug her in the ribs and she jumped a few inches off the floor, emitting a shriek as she did so. She turned around to see Cairo's face grinning slyly at her.

'Hi!' he said casually as if nothing had happened.

She mock scowled at him, 'Hello _Cairo,_' she said, emphasising the use of his full name.

'Uh oh, am I in trouble?'

'Yes you are, as well as making me jump, you made me sound like a weirdo shrieking like that!'

Cairo laughed, 'I'm sorry.'

'That's a lie!'

'I am truly sorry Hermione, let me buy you a drink to show you how much.'

She smiled.

'No it's ok, I'm getting a round in.'

'Well in which case we'll make it my round. What were you getting?'

'Are you sure?'

'Positive.'

'Ok then, I was going to get three Butterbeers and three Firewhiskeys.'

'Ah mixing your drinks to make the beautiful Melted Butter are we?'

'Exactly.'

'Sounds good, I'll get Michaela and Euan one each too.'

'Are you sure you don't want me to pay for some of them?'

Cairo took some money out of his cloak pocket.

'Oh I'm sure, mum and dad left me money for food and stuff whilst they were away.'

'Now Cai really, I doubt this is what your parents had in mind now is it?'

'What they don't know won't hurt them! And anyway, it's only me that suffers if I spend too much isn't it?'

'Yes I suppose it is.'

The wizard behind the bar came over to them and took the order from Cai, luckily the wizard was young and new exactly what 'Melted Butter' was. Hermione doubted the elderly wizard at the other end of the bar would know what they were talking about, it being invented officially – apparently – by students at Hogwarts in Charlie Weasley's time. Their drinks arrived after various wand waves from the wizard and Cairo handed over the money to pay for them.

They made their way back over to Harry and Ginny, Cairo making a detour to Michaela and Euan to give them their drinks (they were talking to some other friends at a different table.)

They sat chatting for a few more minutes before they were asked to take their seats for the meal. Their menus appeared in front of them and they ordered in the normal way – telling their plates exactly what they wanted. As Cairo predicted when he was trying to persuade Hermione to make an appearance at the ball, it was a pretty dull affair. The music didn't get any better, it having been arranged by the older members of the Ministry and those who weren't going to Cairo's after ball party made an early escape.

At half eleven Cairo disappeared to warm up his house and get the music going ready for people to arrive. He found Hermione in the crowd of people skirting around the dance floor.

'I'm off home to get the house ready.'

'Oh, ok, do you need nay help?'

'No, I couldn't let you and everyone else see the state I left the bathroom in, I was running late and didn't have time to tidy up so I'll get that done before everyone arrives. I'll apparate back when everything's ready and then we can go back. That ok?'

'It's your party Cai, do whatever you need to do. I'll see you when you get back.'

'Ok then, later gator.'

Hermione smiled.

'Bye.'

She turned and walked over to Ginny and Harry who had just retaken their seats after having a dance.

'Cairo's just gone home to tidy his house up before we all invade it. He'll be back soon.'

'Harry, Colin's waving you over,' Ginny said pushing him in the back to make him stand and go over.

'Oh,' Harry replied. He stood up and walked to Colin.

'He likes you, you know.'

'_Colin_?' Hermione exclaimed.

Ginny sighed, 'No not Colin, _Cairo_.'

'Well we're friends, I'd be concerned if he didn't.'

'You know what I mean Hermione, he likes you a lot.'

Hermione went quiet, not knowing what to say.

'Well…it doesn't matter does it?'

'No it doesn't, not really.'

'Spit it out Gin.'

'What?'

'Say what you want to, you're dying to say something.'

'Just be careful that's all.'

Not knowing exactly what her friend meant, Hermione decided it was just easier to say the words Ginny wanted to hear.

'I will Gin, I'll be careful.'

Cairo arrived back at the ball and told those who were going to the party that they were free to go when they wanted.

Harry, Hermione and Ginny said goodbye to those who weren't joining them at the party, and then apparated to Cairo's house.

When they arrived music blasted in their ears, but luckily it was good music and they instantly felt the need to dance like they hadn't felt inspired to do all night. Apparently most of Cairo's 'provision' money from his parents had already been spent on alcohol, as bottles of Butterbeer covered the main kitchen surface.

Cairo only deepened Ginny's suspicions by continually asking Hermione to dance and offering her drinks he had managed to salvage from the kitchen. Hermione was in need of some fresh air and shouted to Cairo over the music that she was going outside.

'I'LL COME WITH YOU!' he shouted back at her.

They made their way out of the lounge and the volume of the music decreased as they moved through the house.

'Oh wait!' Cairo exclaimed, 'You said you'd tell me whether the rumours I'd heard about your exploits at school were true or not!'

'Ah, so I did!' Hermione replied. 'How many can you think of?'

'Oh I reckon I've got at least five to be going along with.'

'Oh God, this could take a while.'

Cairo smiled and opened the back door for Hermione to walk through. Without her realising he held back slightly and watched her walk out into the night. Are you brave enough Cairo? He thought to himself, he looked down at hisglass in his hand and took a long drink from it. Not yet, he thought, but I'm getting there.


	22. Chapter 22 Cairo's Kiss

**Thought I'd be nice and update quickly. I like this chapter, let me know if you agree! ****Well thought I'd spotted a continuity mistake on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire but I was wrong, ah well never mind!**

**'Harry Potter, _Harry Potter, HARRY POTTER!'_**

**'Come on Harry, _for Goddness sake_!' **

**lol sorry, couldn't resist! ****As I said, let me know what you think :) **

**Sarah XxXxX ;)

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Chapter 22**

'So what do you want to know then?'

Hermione and Cairo were in the back garden, sat opposite each other on the picnic bench, drinks in hand.

'Ok then, rumour one: Harry Potter locked you in the girl's bathroom with a troll. True or false?'

Hermione laughed, this was going to be interesting.

'True.'

'You have got to be kidding!'

'Afraid not, him and Ron saw the troll wandering in there so thought it would be a good idea to lock it in, which in all fairness was a great idea, lock it in somewhere where there was no one for it to harm. Slight problem though; I was in there and had been for most of the afternoon, so it had me to play with!'

'How in Merlin's name did you get out?'

'Ah, well you see, when they heard me scream they realised I was there, so they came running in and tried to distract it from me, then Ron levitated it's club above it's head and made it fall on it's skull so it got knocked out.'

'Wow, you were pretty lucky it didn't hurt any of you.'

'Yeah we were.'

She looked down at the bench she was sat on. Cairo took a drink from his glass; Hermione looked up and did the same.

'Right then, next up…when you, Harry and Ron went to get the Philosophers stone you drank a slow working poison so Harry could carry on and finish the job at hand leaving you slowly dying but with enough strength to go and get help.'

'Please tell me that wasn't something _a lot_ of people believed!'

'So not true then.'

'No, I'm afraid that's false. We _did_ go after the Philosophers stone and I _did_ drink a potion but it wasn't a slow working poison, what did people take me for? I might have been twelve and naïve but I wasn't stupid!'

Cairo laughed.

'So what did happen then?'

'Well, Ron had just played us across the chessboard, Merlin knows how he did it, he was _amazing_, but he'd had to sacrifice himself so we could finish and get through. Anyway Harry and I finished the game and went through to the next room. We had to figure out a logic puzzle to find the potion, which would take you through the black flames at the door. A couple of them were harmless, I think three were poison, one let you through the flames to the next challenge and one sent you back through the flames at the door you had just come through. I worked out which two those were, but there wasn't enough to send us both forward. So Harry took that one, and I took the one that sent you back to help Ron and get a message to Dumbledore.'

'Merlin! I think the truth's stranger than the rumour!'

'Well they say fact is stranger than fiction,' she swirled the remaining half of her drink around, washing the bubbles off the sides, 'what's next?' she raised the glass to her mouth and drank.

'Well, there was the one that said McGonagal found you and Viktor Krum in a compromising situation in the Broom cupboard outside the Great Hall,' he said very fast.

Hermione tried to gasp at the information, but instead inhaled her Butterbeer and started to choke. She turned away from the table and leant over coughing trying to rid her lungs of the liquid. Cairo clapped her on the back trying to help. After a minute she sat back up, her eyes watering and red in the face.

'_What?_' she managed to ask through her coughs. 'Who the hell,' she coughed again, 'told you that?'

'Well I can't reveal my sources now can I?'

'When it's something like that you bloody well can! Who was it?' She was trying to wipe away the tears that had made an untimely entry to the world, without smudging her eyeliner or mascara.

'Nope, 'fraid not, I have a feeling you would damage them and I would feel awful if that happened. I take it from your reaction it's not true!'

'Err _no!_ The thought of being caught in a broom cupboard by McGonagal is terrifying enough, never mind in a 'compromising situation'!'

Cairo laughed.

'Yeah, I suppose it would be,' he looked at Hermione still wiping her face of her tears. There was one under her cheekbone she had missed. 'Here,' he added quietly, 'you missed one,' He reached forward and wiped it off her cheek with his thumb, 'got it,' he said quietly.

'Thanks,' Hermione replied, aware that the space between them had been reduced slightly. She picked up her glass and swilled it again, 'I'll try this again.'

Cairo smiled and she took a drink from her glass. As she raised her head towards the sky she saw it was a beautifully clear night and she could see the stars high above her. She tilted her head to the left and picked out Orion from the network of stars. She smiled, remembering something Ron had said to her and Harry.

'What are you smiling at?' Cairo asked when he noticed the look on her face.

'Nothing really,' she replied, not taking her gaze off the constellation, 'just something Ron said about him, Harry and I.'

'What did he say?'

'Well, can you see Orion?' she asked him pointing to the stars above her.

'Yep,' he replied.

'Well he once said that the three of us were like the three stars of Orion's belt: Quite good separately, better as a three together, but part of something so formidable that we might never understand it fully. It's strange really; I think that's when I realised properly how I felt about him.'

Cairo didn't say anything for a minute; he looked at the bench in front of him pondering his dilemma. He looked back at the stars.

'My favourite's Cassiopeia, it's really simple and it's the shape of a W which is the first letter of my middle name. Let me just find it. Hang on, which way's north?'

'I have no idea, oh, no wait,' she took her wand out of her robes, 'point me,' she said. The wand spun round on her hand and pointed towards the house. 'That way,' her arm snapped out towards the building.

Cairo stood on the bench, looked at Orion and then north.

'There it is look,' he pointed at the constellation, 'do you see it?'

'I do, I see what you mean, it's definitely a W,' Cairo jumped off the bench and sat down hard on it. The two glasses wobbled.

'Careful,' Hermione said, 'so what's your middle name?'

'Wayne,' Cairo replied, 'it was my mum's brother's name, he died before I was born, apparently, when I was born, I had the same hair he had when he was born, so I was named after him, in a sense.'

'Was he a wizard?'

'No, my mum was muggle born like you, he was fifteen when he died, got hit by a car, my mum was seventeen and at Hogwarts. I think it hit her really hard.'

'I can't even imagine what that must have been like.'

'She regretted not telling her how much he meant to her, I suppose it's not really cool is it? Telling your teenage brother how much you love him and think of him. People don't say things they should though, do they? They keep things inside so they don't lose face, or because they think they'll make things awkward if they do.'

Hermione didn't reply, the burning sensation she got in her stomach when she thought about the times she should have told Ron how she felt about him, but didn't, crept through her. Aided by the alcohol she had drunk that night, it felt ten times worse.

'Do you think people should just tell others how they feel, regardless of what might happen?' asked Cairo.

'Yes,' replied Hermione without any hesitation: that was something she wasn't going to disagree with. A sudden longing for Ron swept through her. She wanted to hold him, she wanted him to hold her and tell her he'd be with her forever, she wanted to feel his fingers run through her hair and feel his lips on hers. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes. She heard Cairo's voice from a long way off, deeply immersed in her own thoughts.

'I've wondered whether or not to tell you this Hermione.'

'I…I've always felt embarrassed saying stuff like this…but at the minute there's nothing more important than me telling you how I feel,' she heard Ron saying to her, his blue eyes staring into hers.

'I really like you Hermione and I want you to know that I think what I'm feeling is growing into something more.'

'I've fallen in love with you Hermione Granger and I can't see there being anything that's gonna change that,' she smiled as he said it to her, finally hearing the words she had been longing him to say to her for weeks. He leant forwards towards her and kissed her, she tingled remembering how it felt to kiss him. She leaned into the kiss and then opened her eyes. Two piercing eyes were looking back at her, but there was something wrong, they weren't blue, they were brown.

Her memories fade instantly as the realisation where she is, who she was with and who she was kissing hits her. She pulled back from Cairo sharply and gasped realising what had just happened. She jumped up from the bench.

'Shit! No, that wasn't…_shit!_'

'Hermione what's wrong?' Cairo asked standing up and walking towards her. Hermione walked backwards away from him.

'_What's wrong?_ Do you even have to _ask that question_? _SHIT_!'

'Hermion-'

'_Don't_ Cairo, I have to leave, I…I have to go.'

'Hermione wait!'

His pleas were in vain; she turned on the spot and disapparated no more than a metre in front of him.

'Bollocks!' he shouted to the night sky. He walked back to the bench and landed hard on it, the force this time knocking over his glass, 'well done Cai, that's one friendship you've seen the last of.' He picked up the fallen glass and threw it onto the pavement, smashing it into hundreds of pieces. He sat alone outside for the next ten minutes, wondering what he should do. When he returned to the house there were only a few people left, mainly couples taking up the sofa and chairs kissing and gazing longingly into each other's eyes, including Harry and Ginny. They were two people he did not want to talk to.

The host of the party slipped quickly upstairs unnoticed by anyone and retired to bed, although it was a long time before he fell asleep.


	23. Chapter 23 Hermione's Rant

Chapter 23

Hermione appeared in her bedroom and started pacing up and down. Thoughts were flying through her head, the main one being, _what the hell just happened?_ It was a minute before she realised that she was pacing in the dark. She marched over to the light switch and slammed her fist down on the piece of small rectangular plastic, anger surging through her as her hand met the wall.

The glass bulb exploded, the filament flickering before dying an extravagant death, glass shards showered the floor and bounced off the wood in every direction.

'Oh for-' she stopped herself uttering the many expletives running through her mind, and settled for hammering her fists on the wall until the pain in her hands stopped her.

As tears filled her eyes she grabbed her jeans and T-shirt off the back of her chair and stormed into the bathroom to change out of her dress robes, her bedroom now being out of bounds. Two minutes later she charged out having left the clothes she was wearing strewn across the bathroom floor. Wand in hand she ran down the stairs and stamped the trainers on that were neatly lined next to Harry's in the hallway. The next second she had apparated out of the house.

Having only ever tried to apparate once into a place which was protected by anti-apparation wards once, Hermione took a second to realise what the force pushing her away from the destination was.

_NO!_ she thought, _you are NOT stopping me from seeing him_. Like before in her bedroom a surge went through her and she broke through the invisible barrier. She materialised outside the double doors leading to the ward where Ron lay, a quick wave of her wand unlocked them after a nervous peer through the glass to see if any Healers or Mediwitches were patrolling the ward. She quietly opened the doors and ran to Ron's bed. The curtains were half drawn around the bed; Hermione drew them fully then placed a silencing charm on them so she would not be heard.

She moved to his bedside and stood over him. The moonlight illuminated his bright red hair and the top of his forehead.

'Ron…' she fell silent, unsure as to what she wanted to say to him, 'Ron I…I need to tell you something. Cairo…something just happened that I didn't mean to, I was thinking about you…about the night you told me how you felt about me. My eyes were closed and I was imagining you kissing me…then I opened my eyes and I was k-' a sob caught in her throat, stopping her saying anything.

'I need you to wake up Ron. I need you here with me now and I need you to tell me everything will be ok. I can't do this anymore! I can't keep being someone who puts on a brave face and keeps a stiff upper lip. I need you here so I can carry on, I need your bluntness, your occasional stupid comments and I need that cheeky grin that lets me know everything will be fine. So the least you can do is _bloody well_ open your eyes and _wake up_!'

She looked at his face, willing him to show some sign of consciousness, a flicker of an eyelid, or an eyelash even but there was nothing. He stayed the same as he had been for weeks.

She sat on his bed and leaned towards him, her hands resting on his chest.

'Ron _please_, please wake up, I _need_ you. Tears fell from her eyes onto the quilt covering him, before long she was sobbing, her head falling onto him and her hands gripping the quilt as if her life depended on it.

'Gin, lets go home, I want to go to bed.'

'You cannot be tired Harry, you didn't get up 'til midday, you've only been awake…' she checked her watch, 'thirteen and a half hours!'

'Who said I was tired?' he replied, a cheeky grin spreading across his face.

'Well why on earth would you go to bed if you weren't tired?' she asked, trying to pull off an air of misunderstanding.

'Well there are plenty of other things to do in bed than sleep.'

'Oh yeah! Like what?' she asked, a sly smile accompanying her comment.

'Well how's about we go home and I'll show you.' He leant forward and kissed her.

She pulled back.

'_O-k_, I think I get the idea, let's go!'

The pair stood up.

'We need to find Hermione and tell her we're leaving,' said Ginny, her eyes searching the room for her friend. Harry joined in, squinting in the darkened room for his housemate. Although the light was bad they knew Hermione's profile well enough to know that none of the people in the room were her, and besides, everyone in the room was locked lips with someone else, which Hermione would certainly not be doing.

The two of them looked in the rest of the rooms on the lower floors without finding Hermione. When Harry went into the kitchen, Colin was in there, trying to find an unopened bottle of Butterbeer, Harry tapped him on the shoulder and he spun around, a little fast for his balance to handle. Harry grabbed his arm to steady him.

'Woooah!' exclaimed Colin, 'Thanks Harry,' he slurred.

'Colin,' Harry said, trying not to laugh at the swaying wizard in front of him, 'have you seen Hermione anywhere?'

'Her…Hermione?' Colin asked.

'Yes, Hermione. You know, bit shorter than me, brown hair, brown eyes, extremely intelligent, far too perfect for her own good!'

'Oh! You mean _Hermione_!'

'Yes Colin, _Hermione_' Harry replied, mimicking the way Colin had said her name, although he didn't see what difference this made to Colin's understanding.

'Yeah…she was…she was…she was outside with Cai last time I…last time I saw her.'

'Ok, thanks Colin, I owe you one!' He turned to leave the kitchen.

'You're…you're welcome Harry! See ya!'

Harry laughed as he left, Colin was very entertaining drunk, he just hoped he didn't suffer too much in the morning.

Harry made his way outside and into the garden. He walked over to the table and benches, but stopped when his foot crunched against the glass that was spread across the ground. He crouched down and looked at the remnants of the glass. Deducing nothing from them he stood back up and walked back inside. He met Ginny when he got inside the door.

'Have you found her?' Harry asked Ginny.

'No, she's not in the house,' Ginny's gaze dropped to the floor.

'What is it?' Harry asked, instinctively knowing something was wrong.

'Natalia thinks she saw Hermione leave, she was in the kitchen getting a drink when she looked outside and saw her and Cairo.'

'Yeah, Colin said he saw her outside,'

'Well, she said she saw Hermione backing away from Cairo, she thought she looked upset, but then she looked away and when she looked up again, Hermione wasn't there. She guessed she apparated, because Cairo swore loudly then walked back in the direction they'd come from.'

'Where is he?' Harry said, barely keeping the anger out of his voice, instantly jumping to conclusions.

'No one's seen him for a while, but then again, this is his house, heshould still be here. Look, why don't you apparate home and see if she's there, if she was upset she might have just gone home.'

'But without telling us? You know Hermione wouldn't do that.'

'Well let's just be sure before we do anything else. I'll stay here, be quick.'

Harry turned on the spot and reappeared outside Hermione's bedroom at home. He walked into her room knowing instantly she wasn't there. He switched the light switch and nothing happened. When he looked at the bulb he gasped when he saw it wasn't there anymore. He looked down at the floor and saw the remnants of it scattered everywhere. He quickly ran through the rest of the house, concern filling him when he found her dress robes thrown carelessly on the floor. Two minutes later he appeared in front of Ginny.

'She's not there but she's been home, her dress robes are on the bathroom floor and it looks like her light bulb exploded.'

'Bloody hell, she must have been really upset or angry to make that happen. We'd better see if Cairo's still here.'

'Yeah, he better have a good explanation.'

Harry set off at a run up the stairs, Cairo had put all cloaks in his room for safe keeping, so wouldn't have locked himself, and them, in. Harry reached the top of the stairs, Ginny running behind him as fast as she could in her dress and heels. They both stopped when they saw the pile of cloaks outside Cairo's room, which he had obviously dumped in a hurry.

'Well, at least we found one of them,' Ginny said quietly.

Harry walked to the door and hammered on it.

'Cairo! Open the door I need to ask you something,' Harry demanded. Nothing happened. The door remained closed.

'CAIRO OPEN THE DOOR. NOW!'

'Harry that really isn't going to get him out here,' Ginny said loudly, trying to calm him down. He sighed deeply, trying to calm his temper.

'Cairo, I know you and Hermione had an argument, you need to tell us what happened, we can't find her and we need to make sure she's ok.'

Still nothing happened.

'CAIRO I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DON'T COME OUT HERE NOW I'LL BREAK THE GOD DAMN DOOR DOWN! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!'

After a few seconds Harry and Ginny heared footsteps on the other side of the door. It opens to reveal a rather ragged looking Cairo.

'What?' he snapped.

'Don't you dare take that tone with me!' Harry retorted, 'Where's Hermione?'

'I don't know,'

'What do you mean you don't know?'

'I mean, _I don't know_! She apparated away in front of my eyes and didn't happen to tell me where she was going.'

'What happened?' Ginny asked, her tone slightly less threatening than Harry's, but only just.

'It's none of your business.'

Harry went to open his mouth but Ginny got there first.

'When our best friend is missing after arguing with you it _is_ our business! Now just tell us what the hell happened.'

Cairo glared at the two of them, knowing they weren't going anywhere until they had the answer they came for.

'I err…we…we…err.'

'Come on Cairo spit it out.' Harry said impatiently.

'I kissed her,' he mumbled very quietly.

'_You kissed her?_' Ginny asked loudly, 'You kissed my _brother's girlfriend?_'

'Yes I did, now will you please leave me alone, I've told you what you wanted to know, now I want to go to bed.'

Harry hands were clenching and unclenching.

'What in the name of Merlin made you think you could kiss her?' he asked.

'Look, I don't have to justify myself to you or anyone else, now just leave me ALONE.'

He slammed the door in Harry's face. He went to hammer on it again but Ginny caught his arm.

'Harry, let's go and find Hermione. Cairo's not going to say anything else to us tonight. We know what happened; let's just find her. Ok?'

Harry let his arm fall to his side.

'Fine, where do you think she'll be?'

'I think I know where she might have gone…you don't think…'

'What?'

'You don't think she kissed him back do you?'

'Ginny, you know Hermione wouldn't do anything like that. She loves your brother and she would never cheat on him.'

'So why the hell did Cairo kiss her then, he wouldn't do that unless he thought she might feel something for him.'

'Look Gin, this is Hermione we're talking about, she wouldn't do that. What we need to do is find her. Where do you think she's gone?'

'I reckon she might have gone to St. Mungo's, especially if she's feeling guilty.'

'Stop jumping to conclusions Ginny. I'll go and see if she's there, you go back to mine and wait for me there.'

'_I will not_, I'm coming with you.'

'Ginny, you will go home because I don't want you starting an argument with Hermione. You're already jumping to conclusions and I know what you're like when it comes to defending Ron ok? I'll go get her if she's there and then you can talk to her when I get her home.'

Ginny scowled at him, she knew there was no way he was letting her go to the hospital.

'Fine, I'll go to your house. I'll wait for you there. Oh, and remember, there's anti-apparation wards on the hospital at night.'

'I know, I'll find a way around them.'

He leant forward and kissed her on the cheek. When he pulled back they both turned on the spot and vanished.


	24. Chapter 24 Meeting Malfoy

**How nice am I updating again? lol, things start to get back to the original plotline now, although everything has been relevant in some way or another but it gets more direct now.**

**Things start to get a bit hectic for me from now on, I finish my degree in 21 days and have a lot of work to do before then so updates mught not be quite as fast but I'll try my best :)**

**Thanks for the reviews people, much appreciated.**

**Step**

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Chapter 24

Hermione was still sobbing into the quilt covering Ron, it was like all of her frustration was being released, only to be replaced by anger. Suddenly she sat up and wiped the tears off her face, she stood up and started pacing again, back and forth along the side of Ron's bed. _I have to get out of here_, she thought, she was starting to feel claustrophobic in the small cubicle. She saw a shadow move under the curtain, it started to move towards Ron's bed. Panicking slightly she turned on the spot and once again fought her way through the wards which were supposedly protecting the hospital and it's patients.

A second after she disapparated the curtain was pulled back and Harry looked into the cubicle. To get himself into the hospital he had only had to ask the receptionist if he could go and see his best friend. She had recognised him instantly, and although he was slightly ashamed of doing so, he laid his misery about Ron on a bit thick and because she felt sorry for him and somewhat fancied the famous Harry Potter, she turned a blind eye to his quick disappearance up to the fourth floor.

He had seen shadows moving underneath the closed curtain and knew it was Hermione in there, however he realised his approach had been detected when she stopped moving. When the shadow disappeared completely he ran the last few steps towards the curtain and pulled it back, but his efforts were in vain.

'_Crap!_ Hermione, where the hell have you gone?'

He looked at the quilt covering his best friend and saw the remnants of Hermione's eyeliner and mascara smudged across it, he noticed the tearstains too and sighed deeply. Not having a clue where she had disapparated to he turned on the spot and after successfully fighting the wards as Hermione had done, a second later appeared in front of Ginny, the frustration showing on his face.

Hermione had reappeared in Hogsmeade, she didn't know why, she just knew she needed to be as far away from home as she could be at the minute, and you didn't get much further away from the South East of England than the highlands of Scotland.

She leant into the wind wishing she had thought to pull a cloak on, or even her summer jacket before she left the house. She walked up the deserted street trying to calm herself down but she couldn't. She was tired of not knowing how to plan her life out, whether to go on thinking Ron was going to wake up in the next few weeks, or whether to think the thing she hadn't let herself think since they found him that night, and start to plan a life without him. She just didn't know what to do, and that scared her more than anything.

As she walked on down the main street in the village, past the shops she had visited many times with Harry and Ron whilst they were at school, she didn't notice the cloaked figure following her in the shadows.

As if tracking her mood the sky had been greying ever since she arrived, and now rain started to fall from the dark clouds. It fell fast and hard and Hermione ran to the cover of a shop front. She could have just disapparated home and the thought crossed her mind, but she didn't want to face what she knew was waiting for her. She knew it would lead to questions, some of which didn't have answers and some she didn't want to answer at all.

A shadow appeared to her left and before she noticed it, it uttered words she had heard many times before, but not for a long time.

'Well if it isn't the filthy little Mudblood.'

Hermione's head snapped towards the hooded person and she raised her arm, wand in hand ready to strike if needed.

'What in God's name do _you_ want Malfoy?'

The last time Hermione had seen Malfoy was three months before the final battle, as for the event itself he had been conspicuous by his absence. However he was still wanted by the Ministry.

'You know, hearing you spout that muggle religion is quite endearing, it's good to know you're keeping your muggle views, seeing as though you are one on the inside.'

'Give me one reason why I shouldn't curse you this instant and turn you into the Ministry Malfoy.'

'Oh give it a rest Granger, as much as this is the most human contact I've had in weeks I don't intend on it becoming a regular thing, I have some information that you might find…intriguing.'

'What the hell could you possibly say that I would need to know?'

'You know what Granger, I don't need this grief, I guess you don't love the unconscious Weasel as much as I thought you did,' a smirk crossed his face as he watched his words have the desired effect.

Hermione took the pace between them and pressed her wand into his Adam's apple.

'What do you mean Malfoy? What do you know about Ron?' she snarled.

'Well let's just say I might know why he isn't in the land of the living.'

She pressed the wand harder into his skin. He swallowed and winced, refusing to back away from her, refusing to show any sign of weakness.

'Tell me what you know, or so help me I'll curse you like you've never known.'

'Don't be stupid Granger,' he spat venomously, ' I've been tortured by the Dark Lord himself. Anything you did would be nothing compared to that, and even if you killed me, it would make a nice change from the pathetic existence you might call my life.'

She moved her wand away from him a fraction, breaking contact with the skin.

'He…he tortured you?'

'Don't start feeling sorry for me Granger, I don't think I could stand listening to your pity.'

'Fine, then tell me what you know about Ron.'

'Take your wand out of my face and I just might.'

She looked into his eyes which had just become visible as his hood fell back an inch. Any sign of life in them had been extinguished. For years she had seen a glint in them when he bullied her, using words to hurt her, but even that had gone. She lowered her arm and put her wand in her right hand.

'Thank you.'

She was shocked at the words, mainly because there was no hint of sarcasm in them, they seemed sincere.

'What do you know?' she asked almost kindly, almost.

'Well, let's just say I might know one of the curses he was hit with.'

'What was it?' she demanded, her heart hammering.

'Granger please, do you think I'm going to give up my one bargaining chip just like that? I want something in return.'

'You want something _in return_?'

'Did you expect anything else?' he asked, a smile creeping onto his face.

'No, but I had a glimmer of hope you had learned some sort or morality.'

'Oh get off your high horse Granger, I can't afford to have morals. I need you to he-' he stopped, disgusted at himself for almost saying _that_ word to _her_.

'You want _my help_?' she said with a smirk worthy of the wizard opposite her.

'You can wipe that smirk of your face-'

'HEY!' she cut in, 'For someone who needs my help you're being _damn rude_!'

They both fell silent

'What do you want from me?' Hermione asked after a minute.

'I want to speak to Potter,' Malfoy replied.

Hermione stared at his grey eyes, looking for any kind of emotion in them, still she saw nothing.

'You want to talk to Harry?'

'Yes I do.'

'Why?'

'I'm not telling you that Granger, you'll find out if you help me anyway. I want you to be there to make sure Potter doesn't do anything stupid.'

'And what if I help you see him? What then?'

'Then I tell you what you're beloved Weaselbee was hit with, I might even be able to find out what the second curse was.'

'How do I know you'll keep your word?'

'There was a time when the word of a Malfoy was honoured.'

'Yes well that privilege was squandered somewhat when your father joined the Death Eaters wasn't it?'

Malfoy scowled.

'So how's this going to work then?' Hermione asked quietly.

'Well, you convince Potter to meet me somewhere and you'll be there too, oh and I don't want any wands-'

Hermione laughed despite herself, 'You think Harry will agree to that?'

'Fine, you can have one if it makes Potter feel better, I trust you more than him, not that that's saying anything. When we're all there getting along nicely, we'll talk and then I'll tell you what you need to know.'

'Oh no. We arrive, you tell me what I want to know _and then_ you talk to Harry.'

Malfoy surveyed Hermione and noticed the defiance and determination in her eyes.

'Fine, but no wands except you. You can arrive first and search me if you want to' he sneered.

'Isn't _that_ something to look forward to!' she replied, the sarcasm obvious.

'Here,' he said digging into his cloak pocket for something. When his hand appeared Hermione saw two gold coins, 'we can arrange a time and place using these, you should know how to use them.'

'Considering they were my idea I would look foolish if I didn't.' Malfoy smirked again.

Hermione shivered and tried to warm herself by folding her arms, needless to say the effort didn't work.

'Why _were_ you wandering up and down Hogsmeade village at two in the morning Granger, surely life isn't hard for one of the saviours of the wizarding world.'

She considered for a moment telling Malfoy everything, she sometimes found telling people she wasn't extremely close too her problems easier than talking to her friends or family, as she wasn't bothered about upsetting or worrying them. This was an opportunity to do just that. Then her brain interfered. This way Malfoy.

'Oh piss off with the small talk Malfoy, like you care about what I might or might not be doing, and I could ask you the exact same thing,' she stopped waiting to see if he was going to give her any sort of answer, he didn't, she continued, 'I'll contact you when I've spoken to Harry, and don't be impatient, this could take time.'

'Fine, I can't wait to hear from you!'

Knowing it was time to go home and face normality she turned on the spot and apparated home.


	25. Chapter 25 Morning Confessions

**Wow...you bring Malfoy into things and people get excited! lol Thanks for the reviews peeps, marvelous! Keep them coming. I'll put the next one up pretty much straight away 'cause they follow on and I'm really nice like thathe he :D**

**Cheers, Step XxXxX ;)**

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Chapter 25

Hermione reappeared in the landing just outside her bedroom, having remembered that her bedroom floor was presently showered in shards of glass. She looked at her floor, wondering whether or not the bulb was reparable with magic, the glass being in hundreds of pieces in various shoes and wedged in cracks in the hardwood floor, and the filament and fitting still six feet in the air, attached to the ceiling.

She was wary of mixing magic with electricity but the light was off and it wasn't as if she needed to fix any of the electrical parts, unless, she thought, the filament counts as electrical. She decided to give it a go, she knew they didn't have any spare bulbs in the house.

'Carefully Hermione,' she said aloud cautiously.

She waved her wand and concentrated, shutting her eyes as she did so and then opened them, raising her gaze to the ceiling. The bulb had reformed in the shade and looked to be perfectly in tact.

'Well the only way to know is to switch the light on!' she said, again talking to herself. She stepped one pace forward so she was further in the room and flicked the switch on the wall, in a much more controlled manner than she had the last time she tried.

The light flickered above her and came on as if nothing had happened. Hermione sighed, thankful her room hadn't been showered in sparks and glass for a second time.

She walked into her room and heard footsteps up the stairs. She sighed deeply knowing it was time to answer questions she didn't particularly want to. There was always the chance that Harry didn't have a clue about what had actually happened. He and Ginny might just think she went somewhere else, to someone else's house, Colin's maybe, he was a good friend. But then again, she thought, you would have told them where you were going. You are not one for disappearing acts Hermione.

She heard the footsteps move across the landing and knew that she would soon be discovered.

'HERMIONE!' Ginny shouted, 'where the hell have you been?'

Hermione turned towards her friend, and noticed the mix of emotions fighting for centre stage on her face. Mild anger won, even though she tried to hide it.

'I err…well I-'

'GINNY! Who are you talk-. Is Hermione there?' Harry called up the stairs.

'Yes Harry, I'm here,' replied Hermione, calmly but loudly.

Harry thundered up the stairs, ran into Hermione's room and practically shoulder barged Ginny out of the way to envelop Hermione in a huge hug.

He pulled away from her and looked into her eyes.

'Promise me you won't do that again, we've been scared shitless not having a clue where you were. Another couple of hours and I'd've had the whole Auror office searching for you.'

'I'm sorry Harry, and I'm sorry Ginny, I didn't mean to worry you both. I just needed some space. I need to tell you a few things…I don't know where to start really.

'How about you tell us why Cairo thought he could kiss you first, that seems like a good idea,' Ginny demanded.

Hermione is slightly taken aback by her comment but then realised it had been foolish to think her and Harry wouldn't know what had happened. It was a party after all, anyone could have seen them.

'Well, yes…I suppose I could start there, erm, well…we err…'

Ginny sighed irritably, Harry turned around and looked at her silently asking Ginny to give Hermione a break.

Hermione shivered, the rain that had caught her before she took shelter making its presence known.

'Erm well…'

'Hermione why don't you get into something warmer and I'll make you a hot drink. Then we can talk downstairs. How's that sound?'

Hermione smiled, glad of Harry's kindness.

'Yeah, that would be good Harry, thanks. I'll be down in a minute.'

Harry turned and walked out of the room taking Ginny by the hand as he did so. He closed the door behind them and Hermione heard him whisper loudly to Ginny as they walked across the landing and down the stairs.

Hermione undressed and changed into her pyjamas. She rooted in her wardrobe for her towelling robe, took it outrmioHermione and pulled it on. She didn't know why but for some reason it gave her a huge amount of comfort. She pulled her slippers on and took her wand off her bed. Her hair was still damp so she performed a drying charm on it. She made her way downstairs and walked into the kitchen.

Ginny was leant against the fridge in the corner of the room and Harry was sat at the table, his hands wrapped around his favourite mug. Hermione spotted a full mug in the place opposite Harry and walked across to the seat and sat down. He had made her hot chocolate, with marshmallows floating and melting on the top. Hermione smiled.

'Thanks Harry.'

'That's ok.'

She blew on the drink cooling it and took a sip, feeling it run down her throat and into her stomach. Instantly she felt a little better and a little stronger to tell her tale.

'Ginny, aren't you going to sit down?' Hermione asked cautiously.

'No, I'm fine here,' she replied, abruptly.

'Oh ok.' Hermione took another sip of her drink, again gaining a little strength from it.

'Right…well…I don't know where to start really. I'll get the most obvious issue out the way, 'cause there's a more pressing one to deal with after that. It's probably easier if you tell me what you were told, or figured out from people.'

Harry went to answer, but Ginny beat him to it.

'You disappeared from the party and we spent quite a while looking for you at the house, Natalia told me she had seen you and Cairo having words and said she guessed you apparated 'cause you were there one minute and then not the next, so Harry came back here and found your light bulb in bits and your dress robes strewn across the bathroom floor. When he arrived back at the house we got the truth out of Cairo.'

She stopped for air, but Hermione cut in.

'What did he say to you?' she was stung by Ginny's tone and she already knew the answer to the question she had just asked, but the more Ginny said, the more Hermione would learn about just how upset and angry Ginny was. Like her blue-eyed brother, Ginny was not one to easily hide her hurt or upset.

'He said he'd _kissed you,_ and then you did your _disappearing_ _act_!' she spat.

Hermione sighed and looked up at Harry. He was staring resolutely into his mug, avoiding the confrontation.

'Ok, well that's true, he did.'

'Why did he thinks he could kiss you?' Ginny demanded.

'I…I don't know really. We were talking-'

'About what?' Ginny interrupted.

'_Ginny!_ Let her speak! And calm down, come here and sit down.' Harry said calmly but firmly. Ginny glared at him and ignored his request for her to sit down.

'Hermione, just tell us what happened from the beginning. We promise we won't interrupt.'

Hermione smiled slightly at Harry.

'Well, we went outside for a chat. It was hot inside and the music was loud so we couldn't hear ourselves think. I'd promised to tell him whether the rumours about you, Ron and I from school were true or not. We'd been talking at work and he said something about breaking the rules, and I said I'd tell him what he did was wrong but with what we got up to I'd be a hypocrite if I did. So he asked me a few things and we got talking about other stuff, which led onto the constellations. I told him about what Ron had said about Orion's belt. Do you remember?' she asked Harry.

He smiled, 'Yeah I remember. Not bad on our own, pretty damn good together, but part of something so huge we'll never fully understand it.'

'Yeah that's the one. Well, after that I told him that's when I realised how I felt about Ron. Cairo went quiet, but then he started talking about how Cassiopeia was his favourite constellation because it was shaped like W, and that was the first letter of his middle name, which was given to him in memory of his mum's brother who died when he was fifteen.

'He started talking about how it had hit her hard because she thought he was great but she never told him how much she admired and loved him. He asked me if I thought people should tell other people how they felt about them. Well I was hardly gonna say no, was I? Not after everything that's happened. So I told him yes, simple as that. As soon as I started thinking about Ron, I couldn't stop. I imagined holding him, and talking to him like we did the night before the final battle.

'I was replaying the whole thing in my head, the words he said to me and the way he kissed me afterwards. I could hear Cairo talking but I wasn't listening, bit rude really considering, but I just couldn't stop thinking about Ron. Anyway, the next thing I knew I realised Cairo was kissing me. As soon as I realised it was him and not Ron I freaked out a bit and left. That's what happened and I swear it's the truth.'

She sighed and waited for a response form either Ginny or Harry.

'He just kissed you! What did he say before hand?' Ginny demanded.

'I don't know really, I think he was saying that he liked me a lot but he thought what he was feeling was turning into something more,' she ended the sentence in a mumble, feeling embarrassed at saying the words.

'I told you didn't I? I _knew_ he liked you!'

'So what if he does! I didn't do anything to encourage this Ginny, surely you know I wouldn't do that?'

Ginny glared at Hermione, hurting for her brother, determined to defend him and fight the battles he couldn't.

'Ginny, you know how I feel about Ron. I'm in love with him for God's sake! Just because Cairo apparently has a crush on me doesn't change _anything_!' her voice was raised but she calmed down a little before continuing, 'I thought you knew me better than that,' she said, a trace of bitterness in her voice.

Ginny looked up at Hermione, she knew she was telling the truth, she could see the hurt she was feeling about Ron every time she visited him and found him in exactly the same position she left him in.

'I know,' she said in a whisper, 'I know you love him, I just…'

'Need to defend him like any sister would,' Hermione said, finishing her sentence for her, 'I understand that Ginny, but you know me, if I had realised he felt that way, I would never have let things pan out the way they did, or at the very least I would have kept my eyes open whilst I was daydreaming!'

Ginny smiled, most hostility forgotten. She walked over to the table and sat down in the empty seat.

'Ok, I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions.'

'That's ok, I understand how things must have seemed.'

Hermione took a drink from her mug and chewed on the marshmallow that had yet to melt.

'So where did you disappear to Hermione? That really had us worried. I only just missed you at St. Mungo's.'

'That was you?'

'What was me?'

'The shadow that made me panic and leave!'

'Oh, yeah I suppose it was.'

'How did you get out?' Ginny asked, 'There's anti-apparation wards on the hospital at night.'

'Yeah I know. I was just so determined to get through to see Ron, I just barged my way through them. I was pretty upset, you saw the light bulb in my room.'

'Shattered all over the floor. Yeah we saw it.'

'Yes well, it's not something I'm proud of. I generally don't like making things explode, but apparently the extra energy makes breaking through anti-apparation wards much easier.'

'So where did you end up then?' Harry asked.

'Hogsmeade, I just needed to get away, but I met someone who we haven't seen in a long time.'

'Who the hell was in Hogsmeade at two in the morning?' Harry asked.

'Malfoy,' she replied, 'that's who.'


	26. Chapter 26 Conflicting Opinions

Chapter 26

Harry's eyes widened and the mug he was holding a couple of inches above the table landed with a thud.

'_Malfoy_? Did you _speak_ to him?'

'Actually I did.'

Harry's look of shock and anger suddenly turned to concern.

'He didn't hurt you did he? I swear if he laid a finger on you or cursed you I'll kill him with my bare hands!'

'Calm down Harry, he didn't touch me, he didn't draw his wand at all actually. It was me who had my wand out and in his face for most of our conversation.'

'Why didn't you curse him and hand him into the Ministry? _You do know he's a wanted wizard_?' Harry asked.

Ginny rolled her eyes and tutted loudly.

'_Really_ _Harry_? _Is he_? I never knew the Ministry wanted Malfoy, one of the few still roaming Death Eaters. Why didn't you mention it?'

Harry's gaze fell on to his half empty mug, silently acknowledging his question had been ridiculous.

'The thought did cross my mind Harry, believe me,' Hermione continued, 'but he said something that made me reconsider.'

'What could he _possibly_ have said that would stop you getting him arrested?' Harry exclaimed, recovering from his earlier embarrassment.

'He said he knew one of the curses Ron was hit with.'

Harry stopped dead still and Ginny's mouth opened in disbelief.'

'Well did he tell you what it was?' asked Harry standing as he did so, his chair nearly upended by his actions.

'Do you think I'd have waited until _now_ to tell you that if I'd have known?' Hermione said, slightly riled by his attitude, 'no he didn't tell me, he wants something in return for his information.'

'Of course he does,' Ginny said with a smirk on his face.

'What does he want?' Harry asked.

Hermione looked up at the wizard and saw the anger in his eyes. She knew the hatred Harry felt for Malfoy was overwhelming. Whilst she disliked the blond wizard immensely she didn't share Harry's belief that he was evil. She couldn't imagine the pressure he must have been under from his father and mother to do what they thought honoured the name of Malfoy, and she understood how much he must have needed to prove himself to them and everyone he knew.

She still thought he was arrogant, conceited and in general, a very nasty piece of work, but she felt sorry for him. She knew he had deserted Voldemort when he was nowhere to be seen on _that_ night. If he had truly believed in his cause he would have been there fighting to the death like everyone else.

Yes she disliked the wizard with a passion for the torment he had caused her and her friends over the years, but she would always pity him too. However, Harry's views on Malfoy would never change, the phrase 'evil little shit' was the nicest way Harry described Malfoy. She knew Harry's reaction to her next comment would be interesting to say the least.

'He…he wants to see…he wants to see you actually.'

For the second time in five minutes Harry was rendered temporarily speechless. It didn't last long though.

'Why in the name of Merlin does he want to see _me_?'

'To talk to you I expect.'

'Hang on,' Ginny said, 'so what does he think will happen exactly? Surely he doesn't trust Harry enough to let him near him, when he could instantly curse him and hand him in?'

'No you're right, he doesn't, but then again he's probably relying on the fact that we desperately want and need that information. If Harry does that, he won't tell us a thing.'

'That sounds like Malfoy.' Ginny replied.

'What else did he say?' Harry asked,

'Well he gave me an enchanted coin so we could arrange a date and place to meet.'

'Let me see it,' Harry demanded.

'No,' Hermione replied quietly.

'Why not?' Harry asked annoyed.

'No one's touching it except me.'

'You don't trust me with it do you?' he snapped.

'I didn't say that.'

'You think I'll use it to get Malfoy somewhere on his own so I can turn him in don't you?'

Hermione sighed and looked up at him.

'I won't deny the thought crossed my mind.'

'Well thanks a lot Hermione, it's good to know after _everything_ we've been through you don't trust me!' Harry shouted causing Hermione to flinch.

She glared at him.

'Harry, it's _because_ of everything we've been through that I know _exactly_ what you'd do to Malfoy if you saw him. I will not risk knowing how to wake Ron up on a stupid and pointless _revenge mission_. I know you think we could catch him and force the information out of him but he's _too good_ for that.

'You _know_ he'll have taken an antidote to Veritaserum and he's too good an Occlumens for Legilimancy to work. The only way he'll give us what we want is for us to meet him on his terms, I will not risk getting Ron back on _anything_ and frankly I'm surprised _you_ would.'

He glared at her, realising every word she said was true.

'Fine!' he snapped, 'what _are_ his terms?'

'We meet somewhere, no wands except for me, he tells us what we want to know and then you talk.'

Harry went to talk but Ginny cut in.

'He offered to tell you his information first?'

'No, he wanted it the other way round but I said he had to tell us first then he could talk to Harry.'

'Is everyone missing the point that I'll be unarmed?' Harry exclaimed.

'So will he. He said I could meet him first and check before you arrived, and I'll have mine if he tries anything.'

Harry made a noise that sounded like a smirk.

'_Thanks_ Harry,' Hermione said, obviously riled, 'now who has trust issues?'

Harry looked at her, knowing he had upset her.

'I'm not questioning your skills Hermione; I'm concerned that he doesn't need a wand to cause harm. You're not telling me Voldemort didn't teach him a trick or two!'

'Yes well Voldemort's tricks didn't help in the end did they, and you're forgetting who taught me what I know.'

Harry let half a smile creep onto his face.

'Look, I know this seems insane but I just know Malfoy wants this as much as I do. He couldn't care less if Ron wakes up or not, but he knows we'll do almost _anything_ to make that happen. If he wants something doing or whatever, he knows _we're_ his best chance. He's not going to give that up is he?'

Harry sighed.

'I suppose not.'

'So what happens now?' asked Ginny.

'Well, I suppose we think of somewhere to meet him.' Hermione replied,

'It'll have to be somewhere secluded, maybe somewhere that isn't easily accessible, and if he's around Hogsmeade he may want to stay there,' said Ginny.

'Maybe, than again he may want to meet somewhere well away from any wizards,' Hermione replied.

'I'm not sure if that'll bother him too much. I mean as far as we know he disappeared from the Death Eaters a few months ago, if he's been hiding from them, and Voldemort when he was alive, for that long, then he did it well and has continued to do so.'

Hermione turned to Harry who had retaken his seat opposite her.

'Can you think of anywhere Harry?' Harry stared at the table deep in thought.

'As much as I don't really want to go near the place again, there's that cave Sirius hid out in outside Hogsmeade. No one in their right mind would willingly go there. What do you think?'

'That's the only place I'd thought would be suitable.'

'Ok then, when?' Ginny asked.

'I err…I dunno, when do you think?' Hermione replied to no one specific.

'Tomorrow?' Harry asked. Hermione and Ginny's eyes widened, 'I don't mean after-we've-gone-to-bed tomorrow, I meant Sunday. I know it's a bit soon but I don't want to give him time to change his mind.'

'I don't think he will somehow but I'd rather get this over and done with, the sooner we know what Ron was hit with the sooner we can figure out how to wake him up.'

'That seems like a good idea,' said Ginny, 'but he might have other ideas. You'll just have to see what he says. Are you going to change the coin now?'

'Oh…yeah, I'll go get it. It's upstairs, I'll be back in a minute.'

She got up and ran up the stairs to her bedroom and rummaged in her jeans pocket for the gold coin. A minute later she was sat at the table, coin and wand in hand.

'This takes me back,' she muttered. Both Ginny and Harry raised half smiles.

She transfigured the letters on the edge of the coins to tell the place and date they had agreed on.

'Well, that's that I suppose. Now we just wait.'

'Yep, I suppose we do,' Ginny replied, 'what time is it?'

Hermione looked at her watch she had yet to take off.

'It's three o'clock, well, just after.'

'Well, I don't know about you two but I'm going to bed.'

She stood up and walked around the table to Hermione. She pulled her friend into a hug.

'I'm sorry about earlier H. I know you love him, and you'd never do anything to hurt him.'

Hermione smiled and hugged Ginny tighter.

'Thanks Gin, but please stop apologising, you reacted in a way any sister would ok?'

'Ok.'

'Now get to bed before you fall asleep standing up.'

They pulled apart and Ginny walked towards the kitchen door.

'Night Hermione.'

'Goodnight Gin, night Harry.'

'Night,' he managed to croak out, but didn't meet her eyes. He followed Ginny out of the door and Hermione heard them walk up the stairs to Harry's bedroom.

She turned back to the table and picked up the empty mugs. She took them to the sink and started to run some warm water into the bowl. After a minute of just staring into the bubbling water she remembered her wand was sat on the table behind her.

She smiled inwardly smirking at herself; she turned off the tap and took her wand from the table. With a couple of waves of her wand the mugs were clean and she put them on the stand. She considered going to bed but her mind was racing too much and she knew she would just lie there in the darkness not falling asleep.

She walked to the table and sat down on it, bringing her feet up to rest on the chair. She propped her elbows on her knees and rested her chin on her hands. She thought about what tomorrow – _today_ – might bring. Would Malfoy contact them and say yes to their meeting? Or would he be a pain in the arse and mess them about?

It suddenly dawned on her that if everything went as good as it could then Ron could be awake in a matter of days. The prospect sent tingles through her body and a small smile crept onto her face. _No_, she thought, _don't_ think like that, this could end up being Malfoy's idea of a sick joke. That thought chilled her to the bone, _surely he wasn't that cruel_?'

She was immersed in her own thoughts when she felt a hand lightly touch her on the shoulder. She jumped a little and turned round to see Harry stood behind her in his shorts and T-shirt.

'Jesus Harry, you scared me!'

'Sorry. I didn't mean to, you just looked so peaceful I didn't want to say anything,' he said quietly.

'I thought you went to bed.'

'I was going to, but I wanted to talk to you first.'

'What about?'

'Earlier. I owe an apology.'

'What for?'

'For saying you don't trust me, when I know you do. I mean, you put your life in my hands on many occasions in the past and all I can say is you don't trust me. I'm truly sorry Hermione; it was a stupid and insensitive thing to say.'

'Apology accepted. I think I owe you one too though. I shouldn't have presumed you were going to do what I thought you were going…to…do… Did that make sense? I think tiredness has found me.'

Harry smiled as he sat next to Hermione on the table.

'Yeah it did, but there's no need to apologise, as soon as you told me you had a way of communicating with him I was thinking of a way I could catch and…well I won't tell you what came to mind, it isn't pleasant and I'm not exactly proud of it.'

'Harry, I know this is going to be hard for you but I _need_ to see this through. I don't think I could cope if a chance to make Ron well slipped through my fingers. I need to see this through, whatever happens. I hope you understand that.

'Oh Hermione of course I understand that. Once I started thinking about how this could all pan out I realised how selfish I was being. I promise I'll do anything I can to get any information we need out of Malfoy, but promise me one thing Hermione, please.'

'What is it?'

'Please say you'll not put all your hopes on this working out. He could just be playing _us_ for information or Merlin knows what else. So please just see what happens and don't get your hopes up, _please_.'

'I was just thinking the same thing. I got so excited when I thought about what could happen if everything was to go right, but then I remembered that sometimes the more you hope for something with your heart, it means your head knows it's probably not going to happen.''

'I'm not going to be a pessimist and say it won't happen H, but just remember it's Malfoy, we're talking about.'

'I know it is Harry, but I saw a change in him, don't get me wrong he's still an arrogant shit who needs a good slap, but something's different. I don't know what but there's something.'

'I'll take your word for it.'

They both fell silent. Hermione felt her eyelids getting heavy. Harry looked at her and saw her eyes threatening to close.

'Come on, you're tired, it's time you went to bed, it's been quite a night.'

'Hasn't it just. God, we thought tonight would be dancing and a posh meal with some wind down time afterwards. How wrong we were.'

'Yeah you could say that!'

'When did life get so complicated Harry?' she asked as she slid herself off the table. Harry stood up and the two of them started walking towards the door.

'The second you opened a train compartment door and asked, "Has anyone seen a toad?"'

Hermione laughed, 'Aint that the truth!'

They walked up the stairs. When they reached the top Harry turned towards Hermione.

'Night H,' he said giving Hermione a hug.

'Goodnight Harry, she replied, 'sweet dreams.'

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**Please R&R ;)**

**Step**


	27. Chapter 27 Anxiously Waiting

**Ta muchly for the reviews people, I love reading them all :) In answer to a couple of them, no this isn't going to end up a Hermione/Draco fic, it's Hermione/Ron all the way! Sorry about the spelling mistakes in one of the previous chapters i get them re-read but I am one of the worst people for reading what I think should be there instead of what is actually there! Ah well never mind! Sorry, think this one is better! There's a bit of soul searching to come then the real fun starts. Hope you like, let me know. Cheers**

**Step ;)**

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Chapter 27

Hermione woke up shivering, her quilt was halfway down the bed, the result of many dreams in which Malfoy predominantly resided and where Ron was always stood just out of her reach.

She reached down and pulled the quilt up to her chin, she glanced across at her alarm clock and read half past nine. She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. What had made her night's sleep worse was the fact that after every dream she had awoken up and therefore remembered each one vividly. They raced through her mind, but before she sank back into some of the horrors that awaited her she opened her eyes and got out of bed.

She felt quite awake which was surprising considering she had only had five and a half hours sleep. Yes, she had gone to bed at around three but when her eyes closed her brain was going hell for leather through every possible 'what if'.

She walked into the bathroom and started her normal morning routine. She tried not to think of the gold coin that was sat on the kitchen table where she left it last night, because every time she did, her stomach squirmed and tingles went through her body.

Twice she had to stop herself abandoning brushing her teeth and going to the kitchen to look at the coin. Five minutes isn't going to make difference Hermione, she kept telling herself. She managed to finish brushing her teeth without her resolve crumbling but she knew it wouldn't last the duration of a shower, no matter how short it was.

She wiped her face on the towel and quietly set off down the stairs so to not wake Harry or Ginny. She walked into the kitchen and was surprised to see Ginny sat at the table with her head resting on her folded arms, apparently asleep.

She walked over to Ginny and gently shook her.

'Ginny?'

Ginny stirred and opened her eyes. She looked up at Hermione and then her surroundings.

'And I came down here because I couldn't sleep!' she said sleepily, 'guess I know what to do next time.'

Hermione smiled.

'What time did you come down?'

'Think it was around six. I'd been tossing and turning since we went up. I felt bad for Harry 'cause I kept waking him up, so I came down here and had a biscuit. I think I just wanted to be here in case that changed,' she pointed to the coin a few inches in front of her.

'Has it?' Hermione asked in what she hoped was a casual voice. It wasn't.

Ginny sighed, 'It hadn't the last time I looked but then again I've been asleep for a couple of hours.'

'Oh, ok.'

Ginny turned to look at Hermione.

'You look how I feel,' she said.

Hermione walked to the opposite side of the table to Ginny and sat down on the chair.

'How's that?' she asked.

'Worried, nervous, a bit sick. You want the coin to change but you're scared of what it'll say. You don't know whether to be happy or worried about the whole thing, and possibly a bit pissed off because if this all works out we'll technically be indebted to Malfoy of all people.'

'God, I hadn't even thought about that, but the rest's exactly right. I don't think I've ever felt so much at once.'

Ginny smiled, 'Me neither, it's hard this growing up lark isn't it.'

'You could say that,' Hermione agreed quietly.

Ginny yawned and Hermione couldn't help but do the same.

'Do you want some coffee Gin?' She went to stand up but stopped when she saw the coin glow ever so slightly. Ginny had noticed the coin too and her eyes widened. Hermione took a deep breath.

'Do you want to or shall I?' she asked in a whisper.

'You do it, now it comes down to it I don't think I can.'

'Ok then,' Hermione reached across the table and looked at the edge of the coin. The message was short but direct. YES TO PLACE, NO TO TIME. 10 TONIGHT. D.M. The initials were hardly necessary but Hermione had done the same on her message hours earlier.

'Well?' Ginny asked, 'good or bad?'

'Err…good I think. He says yes to the place but he wants to meet tonight instead.'

'Oh, well…that is good then, it's quite soon, but then again rather sooner than later…Hermione?'

Hermione had sat back down and was staring at the coin. She looked at Ginny when she heard her name.

'Huh? Sorry Gin I was miles away. Yeah it is good. I suppose he'd rather we do it at night when there's the cover of dark, less likely he'll be spotted in Hogsmeade.

'That makes sense. Are you going to reply?'

'Yeah I will, I just think we should make sure Harry's ok with the time.'

'Yeah we should but I doubt he'll have a problem with it. I'll go get him.'

'We should let him sleep, we don't have to reply straight away,' Hermione said.

'We don't _need_ to reply straight away but I know you want to, and Harry'd be annoyed if we didn't tell him now. You know what he's like.'

'Yeah I do. I'll put the kettle on and make us all some coffee. I think we might be needing it.'

As the kettle clicked off, Harry and Ginny walked into the kitchen. Hermione glanced up quickly as she poured the boiling water into the three mugs.

'Morning Harry,' she said.

'Morning H, mmm that smells good.'

He walked over to Hermione and picked up his favourite mug. It was red with a gold rim and handle and had the Gryffindor lion on it. When the drink it was holding started to get cold the lion roared telling the drinker to get a move on and drink it quickly before it got too cold. It had been a present from Ginny.

'Have you put the sugar in yet?'

'Yes Harry, all four of them.'

He smiled.

Thanks H.'

He picked up Ginny's mug and handed it too her. Hermione finished pouring the water into hers and topped it up with milk. Unlike Harry and Ginny, Hermione needed the edge taking off her coffee in the morning.

'So what does the epitome of evil have to say for himself then?'

Hermione tutted at Harry's comment.

'He's hardly the epitome of evil Harry!'

'I know, I'm only joking,' Hermione knew he wasn't, 'what does_ Malfoy_ have to say?'

'He said yes to the place but no to the time.'

Harry frowned as he drank his coffee.

'Why not?' he asked after swallowing his mouthful.

'He didn't say why, he just said ten tonight.'

'Tonight? Wow, he _is_ keen isn't he?'

'Seems so,' Ginny replied.

'Is that alright with you Harry?' Hermione asked.

'Erm…yeah I suppose…yeah it's fine.'

'Good. I'll change the coin then.' She picked it up and transfigured the words so they read FINE. I'LL ARRIVE, HARRY WILL FOLLOW. H.G.

'Well that's that. Now we just wait 'til tonight,' Hermione said determined to sound calm and rational, she paused before she continued. 'Err, Ginny, I know you might want to tell your mum and dad what's going on but I don't think we should mention it to anyone. For one thing it would put your dad in an awkward situation, he would be obliged to tell the Ministry what's going on and I don't want to do that to him. Plus I think the less people that know about this the better. If Malfoy thought _anyone_ in authority knew about this then we'd never see him again.' She looked at Ginny nervously, not wanting to have annoyed her.

'Don't worry, I'd had the same thought, I don't know how they'd take it anyway. I'm not going to tell them, but if this all works out and we manage to wake him up then _you_ can tell mum, dad and all five – well four, we'll not count Percy – all four of my brothers the _whole_ story!'

Hermione smiled, 'Of course I will Gin, I can't think of anything more frightening but hey! What the hell!'

Ginny and Harry laughed.

'So what are you two planning on doing today.'

'Well we didn't have any plans did we Gin?' Ginny shook her head as she drank her coffee, 'but apparently I have plans around tenish, can't quite remember what they are but I'm sure it'll come to me.' Ginny tutted loudly, 'What about you H?'

'Nothing really. I'll go and see Ron at some point, but apart from that nothing.'

'Well I can see this day is going to be brimming with excitement!' Ginny said sarcastically.

Harry smiled as he finished off his coffee depriving the lion of a reason for roaring today.

'Well I don't think any of us are going to be able to do anything that requires a huge amount of concentration, so why don't we all go and see Ron before lunch, and then go to Diagon Alley for something to eat, and then we can go back to mine and get a game of Quidditch going with any of my brothers who have gone home because they can't be arsed making their own dinner. Fred and George said they'd be there this afternoon, it's the one Saturday they let themselves off a month.

'That sounds like a plan,' Harry said nodding in agreement.

'What do you think H?'

Hermione smiled, 'Yeah that sounds good, I just hope that an even number of your brothers are there so I don't have to embarrass myself on a broomstick and can enjoy the role of enthusiastic spectator!'

Ginny laughed, 'You're not that bad Hermione!' she said.

Hermione raised her eyebrows at Ginny and Harry snorted a laugh, trying hastily to pull it off as a cough.

'HEY!' Hermione exclaimed.

'What? You were about to contradict her!'

'I know I was but that doesn't mean _you_ can!'

'That is _so_ unfair!' he replied.

'I know,' she said smiling. Harry scowled at Hermione but couldn't hide the smile creeping onto his face.

'Does anyone mind if I go and have a shower?' asked Ginny.

'No, go ahead,' Hermione replied.

'How come you let Ginny have one without telling her not to steal all the hot water?' Harry asked, confusion filling his face.

'Because I pressed the hot water button on the heating…panel…thing,' she waved her hand in the vague direction of the wall behind Harry, 'so there will be plenty for all three of us as long as we're relatively quick.'

'Oh, ok, I'll not take it personally.'

'Good.'

'The what?' Ginny asked confused by Hermione's last comment.

'That thing on the wall up there,' she nodded at the wall space above Harry's head.

'Oh so _that's_ what that thing's for, I always wondered. It's quite cool what muggles come up with isn't it?'

'Careful Gin, you'll start sounding like your dad soon,' Harry said.

'Oh _ha ha_,' she replied as she stood to leave the room, 'I'll be ten minutes.'

She left the kitchen and a couple of minutes later Hermione and Harry heard the water running.

'You having breakfast?' Harry asked Hermione.

'No, I'm not hungry.'

Harry turned to the cupboard and started making his breakfast. Hermione stayed sat down twirling the coin between her fingers, staring at a scratch on the table. She was brought from her thoughts by Harry putting a bowl of cereal and a spoon in front of her. He sat opposite her and started to eat his.

'Harry, do you understand the concept of not being hungry?'

'Yes thanks.'

'Then why have you made me breakfast?'

'Because you need to eat something.'

'But I'm-'

'I'm not letting you leave this room until you've eaten it. And anyway you should feel privileged, I don't let just anybody eat my cereal!'

Hermione looked down and saw the cereal turning the milk chocolate flavoured and the random pink, yellow and blue sugar filled pieces floating on top.

'You know this has got to be _the_ most unhealthy cereal in the _world_.'

'I know, it's great isn't it!'

Hermione laughed and picked up her spoon.

'Well I suppose I can't let all this chocolate and sugar go to waste now, can I?'

'Nope you can't. Now start eating!'

'Yes sir, Saviour Boy!'

Harry grinned.

'You know, I think that's starting to grow on me.'

Hermione swallowed her mouthful of cereal.

'Oh well we can't have that now can we? I'll have to think of something else instead!'


	28. Chapter 28 Finding Sanctuary

**Ok, so after reading this chapter a couple of people might be annoyed, 'cause they wanted the meeting with Malfoy to happen like now, well I'm sorry but you'll just have to wait one more chapter, I swear it's in the next one, having already written it!**

**Mini challenge - who knows what book and author Hermione's talking about? Cake and ice cream to those who know!**

**Please R & R, I'll be quick with the next update if you do ;) (lol bribery rules!)**

**Step

* * *

**

Chapter 28

After Ginny, Harry and Hermione had their showers and got dressed, they went to St. Mungo's. Visiting hours were extended on a weekend so they didn't have to worry about going at the wrong time. Although, as Harry pointed out, there wasn't going to be a problem, no one could – apparently – get into the hospital better than he could!

As Hermione was sat on the edge of Ron's bed she was overwhelmed with a barrage of different emotions. She still felt guilty over what had happened with Cairo, in hindsight, she thought she should have realised what was happening especially after the warning Ginny had given her, she now knew what Ginny had meant when she said "be careful".

As much as she tried she couldn't help thinking that Ron might be awake soon. She was naturally an optimist; to her the philosophical glass would always be half full. Even three years of war hadn't beaten that out of her although now her philosophy of life was "Hope for the best but prepare for the worst".

Every time she thought about this whole thing being the answer to her prayers she then got an overwhelming sense of loss when she realised it might not happen, and then to top everything off she got angry at herself for building her hopes up at all.

The three of them sat in Ron's cubicle silently, each of them lost in their own thoughts. After five minutes without a word between them Harry snapped out of his 'what ifs?'

'We're gonna have to act more natural than this when we go to the Burrow, 'cause everyone'll know something's up,' he said quietly.

Hermione and Ginny looked at him.

'Yeah you're right,' Ginny replied.

'Sorry Harry,' said Hermione.

'There's no need to apologise I'm just saying, that's all.'

'You're still right though. It's not exactly a normal occurrence for the three of us to be rendered speechless now is it?'

'Merlin no, can't shut you two up normally!'

'Ha bloody ha!' Ginny said smiling.

'Well it's true! I can barely get a word in edgeways normally.'

'That is such a lie!' Hermione replied.

'Oh really, can I remind you of a certain conversation you had the other night about the ethical issue of testing experimental potions on house elves. Three times I tried to tell you what I thought about it and three times I was drowned out by one of you.''

'No you may not remind us of it and please don't start Hermione off on that subject _again_. I barely escaped with my life last time!'

'Oh come on! I wasn't that bad!'

'So I just misinterpreted the phrase "I can only imagine what kind of sick minded bastard came up with the idea in the first place" did I?'

Harry laughed and Hermione scowled at Ginny.

'Ok fine, I'll admit I was a bit passionate with my argument but I'm not going to change my opinion.'

'I think Ginny figured that out after three hours!'

After visiting Ron the three of them arrived in Diagon Alley for some food and when they were pleasantly full apparated to the Burrow.

When they arrived Fred and George were already there, discussing with Arthur if it would finally be worth expanding their business into Hogsmeade as they had planned to years earlier, but had never had the opportunity. It took all of twenty seconds to persuade them to play Quidditch with Harry and Ginny; Hermione breathed a loud sigh of relief.

The four players spent most of the afternoon on their brooms, coming back down to earth occasionally for a drink. The September sun was cooler than Hermione was used to, August having been ridiculously hot, but still warm enough for her to sit in the garden with a book, occasionally watching the game above her.

Ten minutes before Molly had said tea would be ready Fred, George and Ginny touched down and went to put their brooms safely in the shed. Harry who had brought his Firebolt from home took a seat next to Hermione who looked immersed in the text of her book, but was actually staring at the pages blankly, not taking in any of the words in front of her.

She jumped when Harry collapsed in the chair next to her, the noise bringing her from her thoughts.

'Were we that boring to watch?' he asked with a smile on his face.

'No Harry you weren't, but I'd have damaged my neck if I'd have watched you continuously.'

Harry looked up and realised the angle his neck was at.

'I never thought of that, and to be fair when Hermione Granger doesn't have a book in her hand or in close proximity I get worried. It just seems wrong somehow!'

Hermione looked at Harry and smiled at him.

'Do you know why I read so much Harry?' she asked.

'Because you need to know everything about everything?' he replied with a smile.

'Well that's one reason, but it's not that main one.'

'Well what is?'

'When I was little I used to love to escape into stories and fairytales. That's all it was – escapism. If I was worried or upset about something, or if I just needed to switch my brain off I'd read a story about far away lands and magical adventures to take my mind off my childhood worries.'

'There's nothing unusual about that Hermione.'

'I know there's not. But what happens Harry, when one of your favourite worlds to escape to, a world where there's magic and wands, spells and mythical creatures becomes your reality? Where do you escape to then? Where do you find your sanctuary from your worries without being reminded of what you're trying to ignore?

Harry sighed

'I…I don't know Hermione. I suppose…no you've got me stumped on that one!'

Hermione laughed quietly.

'It's ok Harry, I haven't thought how to either. It's not a huge issue anymore. It was when I started Hogwarts though, I took my favourite 'comfort' books from home but when they talked of magic and wand waving all I could think about was school work and all the wand movements and spells I had to learn so they stopped being a comfort. It wasn't until I saw them again when we were sorting out my stuff that I thought about them again. I used to be so happy when I disappeared into that world, and then the other day I read a quote from a muggle author that got me thinking.'

'Uh oh, what was it.'

'It was something he wrote in a foreword in one of his books to his goddaughter. He was saying that children read fairytales, and then they grow out of it and become too old to, but then some day everyone becomes old enough to start reading fairytales again. It's at times like this, especially with tonight and whatever that might bring that I wish I could escape from my magical reality, even if it is only for an hour or two.'

Harry stayed quiet, he couldn't think of anything to say.

'Surely I haven't stunned you into silence Harry?'

He smiled.

'No, well, on that subject you have. I don't suppose you could watch telly instead?'

Hermione laughed.

'Watch television instead of reading a book? How could you suggest such a thing Harry?'

'Yeah I didn't think so! There is another option.'

'What's that?'

Harry bent down and picked up his broom and held it out to Hermione. She looked at him puzzled.

'Harry I thought we'd determined I couldn't play Quidditch.'

'We have, but you can fly well enough. I know I go on about it but there's nothing like flying to clear your mind. It might not be total escapism, but it's a start!'

Hermione looked at the broom in his hand, then saw herself reach out and take the handle.

'Yeah ok, I'll give it a go. I can't quite believe you're letting me ride your Firebolt though, are you sure?'

'Yeah go on. I trust you; just don't fall off from a great height. I'm not sure Ginny would appreciate the opportunity to demonstrate what she's learned so far at St. Mungo's.'

Hermione smiled,

'That's true!'

She stood up and swung her leg over the broom, resting her foot on the brass rest at the tail end. She turned to Harry who had stood up with her.

'She turns at the slightest touch so watch you don't slide or roll.'

'I won't,' Hermione said, smiling at the fact Harry had called his broom 'she'.

'Ok, off you go then.'

'Thanks Harry.'

'For what?'

'For understanding.'

He smiled at her and she kicked off from the ground, the speed of the broom taking her breath away slightly. She soon regained her composure, and once she had relaxed, enjoyed the feeling of the wind in her hair and how free she felt. She came to a stop and hovered so she could look down at the ground. She saw Harry looking up at her and he waved, she returned the gesture and smiled.

'You know Hermione,' she said aloud to herself, 'it's not bad this flying lark. Not bad at all.'

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**Oh, and can I just say, you know at the end of the COS film when Lucius Malfoy is about to curse Harry, is it just my imagination or does he start saying Avada Kedavra? 'Cause wouldn't that be a really stupid thing to do? Anyway...please read and review ;)**


	29. Chapter 29 Promises Honoured

**Woooohooo! Thanks for all the reviews people, you rock. I said I'd update if you did so here you are. Well done to those who got the author and book, it was The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis, quality book and quality film. Anyway, hope you like this one, finally we find out why Ron's asleep. Hope it's not a disappointment! lol. Please R & R**

**Cheers, Step XxXxX ;)**

* * *

Chapter 29

It was half past nine and Hermione was pacing. She had been doing it for five minutes, striding the length of the lounge in front of Harry and Ginny, who were both sat on the sofa watching her walk.

'Hermione,' Ginny said quietly.

Hermione kept walking; she was so deep in thought that Ginny's voice came nowhere near to getting through to her.

'_Hermione!_' Ginny shouted.

Hermione spun on the spot and looked at Ginny.

'What?' she replied.

'Please stop pacing, it's driving me mad! Sit down and _calm down_.'

Hermione did as she was told, sitting on the single chair nearest the television. Hers and Harry and Ginny's cloaks were hanging over the back of it ready for when they were ready to leave.

The three of them sat in silence; there was nothing left to say, they had gone over their plans at least seven times already.

They had decided that all three of them would apparate to Hogsmeade. Although only Hermione and Harry would be meeting Malfoy, Ginny had flatly refused to sit at home on her own, and on a purely safety issue, it was always best to have someone close by who knew what was going on and could raise the alarm if necessary.

Hermione would go to the cave on her own first (apparating of course, she was in no hurry to brush up on her rock climbing skills,) and check Malfoy didn't have his wand, then alert Harry via another enchanted coin that it was safe for him to approach. What would happen after that was anyone's guess but Ginny would be resolutely sat in the Three Broomsticks watching her enchanted coin closely, so that she knew what was going on and with Harry's wand safe in her robes next to her own.

After what seemed like an hour but was only fifteen minutes Ginny looked at her watch and decided to put Hermione out of her misery.

'It's quarter to, how about we go?'

Hermione jumped up from her seat as if the decision had been made in that question. She walked around the chair and picked up her cloak and pulled it around her in one fluid motion.

Harry smiled at Ginny as he stood up, silently thanking her for giving Hermione something to do to expel her nervous energy. Hermione was busy fastening her cloak; her two coins were already in the left pocket, although she had to physically hold them in her hand to convince herself they were still there.

She stowed her wand in her robes and then turned to watch Harry and Ginny don their cloaks and straighten themselves out.

She walked towards them and a shiver ran down her spine in anticipation of what was going to happen. Her hands were shaking slightly so she balled her hands as to not let Harry and Ginny notice. The three of them looked at each other, Hermione couldn't quite return the smile Harry had given her.

'To the Three Broomsticks then?' Ginny asked.

'Yes,' Hermione replied quickly.

'To the Three Broomsticks,' Harry replied.

The three of them turned on the spot and appeared outside the friendly looking pub in the Scottish village.

The noise coming from the building was friendly, punctured with laughter and the clinking of glass on wood and glass on glass as people made toasts to their friends, relatives, the Boy Who Lived and to the fact that they were alive.

Harry and Hermione turned towards Ginny who was looking through the window of the pub, hoping not to see anyone she knew too well, as this would make sitting inconspicuously in a corner harder to achieve.

Ginny turned to Hermione.

'Hermione be careful. I know what's at stake, but if things turn nasty or just feel wrong then leave. Just leave. Don't make me have to explain to Ron why you aren't there when he wakes up because you didn't look after yourself, ok?'

Hermione was slightly taken aback by the abruptness of Ginny's comment, but she knew Ginny was not one to mince her words.

'I will Gin, I'll be careful. If it looks like we're going to be a while I'll let you know via the coin, and you-'

'I'm not leaving without you!'

'I wasn't going to say that, I know you wouldn't. I was going to say you could check up on us too if you wanted. Just give it an hour or so ok?'

'Ok.'

Ginny stepped forward and hugged Hermione before pulling back and turning to Harry, but before she could say anything he cut in.

'I'll be careful too Gin, I promise.'

'Good but promise me another thing.'

'What?'

'Don't go off on one with Malfoy, I know you don't like him but there's a bigger picture here. From what Hermione's told us he's changed, he might want to make things right, I don't know if he'll be able to, but you'll have to see. So don't go in there fists flying ok?'

'I won't, I'll be good I promise, I know what's a stake. I won't risk that.'

'Good.'

Hermione looked at her trainers as Ginny hugged Harry and then kissed him goodbye.

'Look after each other,' she called to them as they started to walk through the village.

'We will,' they replied in unison.

They bowed their heads against the wind that was surging down the main street. Hermione pulled her cloak tighter around her, glad that she had decided to put her heavier travelling cloak on instead of her lighter one. They were still ten minutes early when they reached the stile at the end of the village. Hermione thought she saw a hint of sadness in Harry's eyes, realising he was probably thinking about the first time he had seen Sirius after his escape from the school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

'I may as well go now, I'd rather be there before he gets there, then again knowing him he'll be there hiding so he can watch me arrive.'

'Ok, but Hermione-'

'Harry I'll be careful, really I will! If there's one thing fighting in a war will teach you it's how to watch your own back.'

'Yeah ok. I'll see you in a bit. Remember what we said about the coins.'

'I will, see you soon.'

Harry had demanded that Hermione use a code word in her message to him on the coin, so he knew it was her using it and not Malfoy. They didn't think it was likely he would try and pull anything but it was like Hermione had said, if fighting in a war will teach you anything; it's how to look after yourself. Hermione would, somewhere in her message, use the term 'pen exploder,' there's no way on earth Malfoy would know about that nickname so it was a good one to use.

Hermione turned on the spot and reappeared on the slightly more even rock outside the cave than that which mainly surrounded it. She lit her wand and carefully stepped across the threshold, it was slightly bigger than she remembered, but then again, the last time she had been there it had held four people and a hippogriff, but was presently, empty. She cast the light from her wand all around the cave looking for signs that Malfoy was there or had been recently. She found none, the cave was completely empty. A little too empty for an unused cave hidden in a hillside.

'A little early aren't we Granger?'

Hermione whipped round and saw Malfoy leaning casually against the opening of the cave. Her wand arm was raised straight out in front of her, illuminating his face. Her eyes widened when she looked at him properly. He looked little better than death warmed up. He had dark circles under his eyes and his skin was pulled tight across his cheeks and his nose, and he had three scars running down his left cheek.

'Granger, you're blinding me, lower your wand.'

She looked at him, his cold grey eyes looked deep into hers and it made her shiver.

'Raise your hands above your head, I need to check you don't have your wand,' she replied ignoring his demand.

Malfoy sighed irritably but restrained himself from saying anything.

'Fine,' he did as he was told, 'that ok for you?'

Hermione took half a pace back and pointed her wand at Malfoy's boots.

'Veneficium Retego,' she whispered.

A barely noticeable beam sparked from the end of her wand and hovered over the black boots.

'What, no strip search? I _am_ disappointed!' he jeered.

'Well unfortunately for you I left my PVC catsuit and riding crop at home, otherwise we could have had some _real_ fun, couldn't we?'

He stared at her lost for words and Hermione smirked. She continued to move her wand and the beam upwards looking for a bright red shadow that would show there was something magical under the beam. She saw nothing until the beam covered Malfoy's cloak under his right arm. A bright red circle had appeared.

'What's that?' she demanded.

'It's my enchanted coin, so I could contact you if I was held up, or the more likely scenario that you didn't show up.'

'Like _that_ was going to happen,' she spat.

She finished covering his front with the beam then did the same when he turned round, although the look of contempt on his face as he did so was a picture in itself.

'Satisfied?' he asked, obviously annoyed.

'Yes I am. Now if you give me a minute I'll get Harry.'

'I can't _wait_!'

'You know what _Malfoy_,' Hermione snapped, 'I really don't think I can put up with many more of your snide and stupid comments, so for my sanity will you just do the decent thing and _shut up_!'

She dug her hand in her pocket and withdrew the coin with which to contact Harry from it, glimpsing the half smirk, half scowl that Malfoy had plastered on his face.

'My my, I knew you were feisty Granger but I'm seeing a whole other side of you I never knew existed.'

She looked at him and decided his words were, for once, not sarcastic, and she took them as some kind of a compliment.

'Yes well, things change and people change. I should think you of all people would know that.'

Malfoy didn't reply; he of course knew how people could change. It just happened to be most life changing (and most shocking) when it was you that changed.

Hermione waved her wand and the words on the edge of the coin changed to SAVIOUR BOY, EVERYTHING'S FINE. WHEN YOU'RE READY! PEN EXPLODER.

'Harry shouldn't be long,' she said quietly.

Malfoy nodded his head an inch and stepped a few paces into the cave so he was half hidden in the shadows. The small gap in the clouds disappeared and the moonlight that had been covering the entrance was extinguished. Hermione blinked as her eyes adjusted to the lack of light. She lit her wand and then conjured a few candles on the floor so they had a bit more light to talk by. Her eyes scanned the floor and she remembered how the cave was far too clean.

'Did you clean up in here before I arrived?' she asked, a surprised tone in her voice.

'Actually I did, there was bones and the remains of something sprawled across the floor. I might not have the luxuries I once had but I refuse to stand in filth when it can be prevented.'

A crack outside the entrance echoed in the cave and Hermione jumped at the noise.

'Hermione?' Harry asked, he felt so vulnerable without his wand, and it showed in his voice.

'I'm here Harry.'

Harry stepped across the threshold of the cave and instantly found Malfoy in the semi-darkness. He quickly glanced at Hermione to check she was ok with no signs of curse or hex-marks.

'Are you ok?' he asked, to reassure himself everything was going as planned.

'Yes I'm fine.'

'I am too Potter, thanks for asking,' Malfoy drawled.

Despite himself Harry laughed at the comment.

'Well, I'd say it was good to see you but I'd be lying, and I do try to stay as truthful as possible!'

Malfoy smirked.

'Same to you Potter.'

'Lovely as it is to see you two getting on _so_ well, we have things to discuss,' Hermione said with an air of irritation in her voice. 'I believe the deal was, Harry comes here, you tell us what Ron was hit with and then you and Harry talk. Well I think you can see we've upheld our end of the deal, now tell us what spell Ron was hit with.'

'Before that, I need to know he hasn't got a wand. Check him like you checked me.' It wasn't a request it was a demand.

Hermione sighed and said the spell again, Harry looked at her with a confused expression on his face.

'Just stand there for a minute with your arms out. It's only fair.'

Harry did as Hermione said, and he turned on the spot when she asked him.

'Happy?' she asked Malfoy.

'Perfectly.'

'Good, now tell us what Ron was hit with.'

'Straight back to business eh Granger? Fine.'

He paused, knowing Hermione was dying to hear the words that were on the tip of his tongue. He revelled in knowing how he was making her feel, and Harry too.

He left them hanging for a few seconds more, but decided against pushing it any further, he thought he had seen Hermione's wand hand twitch.

'Your beloved Weasel was hit with a curse that was devised by the Death Eaters as a new toy in the second war. It is one of a few complex spells that only a few select people know how to counter. I have managed to find out that Weaselbee was hit by the everlasting sleep spell.'

The words reverberated around the cave and hung in the air between the three of them. Harry was the first to reply, Hermione having been taken completely aback by the statement.

'I'm guessing from the look of absolute glee on your face it does exactly what the name says it does.' Harry said, disgust filling his face at the sight of Malfoy's malicious smile.

'You guess right Potter. Weasley is in an everlasting sleep.'

Hermione had been listening to Malfoy's speech and as soon as she heard the words she had been longing to hear for months, her brain went into overdrive, trying desperately to remember ever hearing or reading about the everlasting sleep spell. She remembered the Draught of Living Death; they had done that in their first ever NEWT potions lesson, but she couldn't for the life of her remember hearing about the everlasting sleep spell. She felt a bit sick as this realisation swept over her, from that alone she knew this was going to be more complicated than she had dared to hope.

'So how do we wake him up?' she asked.

Malfoy smiled, 'I can see that _that_ information is worth a lot to you.'

'Stop pissing about Malfoy you know it is, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't.' she hissed.

'Well because of that I'm afraid I'm going to have to keep that information quiet until I've had my little talk with Potter here. I don't want you disappearing before I get to have my say do I?'

Hermione marched towards him, wand raised.

'That wasn't the deal Malfoy and you _know it_.'

'No it wasn't but this way I at least know my voice will be heard by the _wizardkind wonder_, or whatever else the stupid Prophet is calling you now. Don't worry, if you stay and listen to what I have to say and decide to help me then I'll tell you the counter to the spell.'

Hermione kept her wand hand where it was.

'Oh no not yet, you haven't told us the second spell he was hit with.'

'There's no need to bother your bushy head with that Granger, you see,' his voice took on the tone of explaining something very simple to a five year old, 'the spells that were invented by the Death Eaters were designed to obliterate the effects of any previous spell that person had been hit with, so the effects of _their_ spell wasn't reduced in any way. For example, if someone has been stunned they wouldn't be able to be put in an everlasting sleep, as their mind would have been shut down, so the spell wouldn't work properly. Why would a Death Eater want to leave a victim simply stunned when there is so much more fun to be had with a much more dark and evil spell.'

'You're sick, you know that Malfoy? Sick!' Harry spat.

'If it makes you feel any better _Potter_, I didn't help make up these spells I was just taught how to use and counter them.'

'No, that doesn't make me feel any better, because of one spell from you and your so called _friends, _they made life hell for hundreds of _good people_, and why? Because it was fun for you wasn't it?_ Your sick idea of fun_.' The venom with which Harry said his words seemed to reverberate around the cave like Malfoy's words had earlier.

The three of them fell silent. Malfoy was staring at one of the candles on the far side of the cave.

'Believe it or not, that's one of the reasons why I wanted to see you,' Hermione noticed a change in Malfoy's voice, 'I want to do what I can to put things right. I want to give information to the Ministry that will help them.'

'And what do _you_ want in exchange?' Hermione asked, remembering he was there for personal gain as much as they were.

'I want my freedom.'


	30. Chapter 30 Unbelievable Requests

**Thank again for all the reviews people. I love reading them. I'm in a good mood today 'cause I've done quite well at the Lancashire track and field championships, although I did plow my way through two hurdles and my knee is the size of a melon but never mind, it's not exactly the first time it's happened, so that's why I thought I'd be nice and update again ;)**

**Anyway back to the story...I've caught up with myself, writing/posting so it might be a bit longer before the next one...that and I've got a degree to finish! lol Again, let me know what you think, hope you like. Cheers**

**Step XxXxX ;)**

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Chapter 30

'You want…freedom?' Harry asked, repeating what Malfoy had said.

'Yes.'

Harry thought for a second. Hermione had a shrewd idea of what Malfoy wanted but she kept quiet. Harry could sort this out.

'What do you mean exactly?' he asked the blond wizard.

'I mean I want to be taken off the Ministry's wanted wizard list. I want them to stop looking for me so I can try and get back to having something of a normal life.'

'What makes you think there's even a glimmer of hope that _that_ will happen? You're a Death Eater, there's a _ten thousand galleon_ price on your head and to be frank the Ministry's not that bothered if it's still attached or not.'

Hermione grimaced at the thought. Malfoy, however, smiled.

'Believe me Potter, I know. I'm quite flattered actually that they I'm worth that much to them!' Harry smirked, 'But as I said, I have information the Ministry will find useful and I'm willing to give it up in return for them leaving me alone.'

'I hate to put a huge dint in your plan Malfoy, but no one at the Ministry is going to believe that you'll just disappear quietly and not try and become Voldemort's successor! They aren't going to trust you for as long as you live.'

'I know, that's where you come in.'

'What do you mean that's where I come in?' Harry said slowly his eyes narrowing, knowing he wasn't going to like what he heard.

'Well I know that the fact you killed the Dark Lord has made you a hero in everyone's eyes, and I'm guessing that you can ask for anything you want and it'll be handed to you on a silver plate with the words 'We love Harry' engraved around the edge. _So_, if you tell them _you_ trust me and ask them to leave me alone then they probably will.'

Hermione stole a quick glance at Harry, the corner of her mouth twitched, she knew what Harry was going to say, she just wasn't sure how he would phrase it.

'Let me get this straight,' Harry said, 'you want _me_ to tell the Ministry of Magic that _I trust YOU_!'

'If you don't mind,' Malfoy replied, quite unabashed by Harry's disbelief.

Harry went to reply but closed his mouth after he hadn't managed to make a sound, his amazement overtaking him for the moment. He looked at Hermione who understood how he felt.

'I'll do it Harry, it's ok…Malfoy,' she started, 'how do I put this? Erm…_what in Merlin's name makes you think we would ever trust you?_ I mean, you _do_ understand where I'm coming from don't you? You haven't quite lost your mind? You _do_ understand the utter disbelief we're feeling?' Her tone hadn't escaped Malfoy's attention.

'Yes Granger I _do_ understand,' his face had suddenly turned serious and concentration filled it as if he wanted every word to count in case he didn't get the chance to say them again. 'I'm not trying to deny that we've hated each other since the day we met but I'm asking you to try and put that behind you and try and look at me in a new light. I've changed since we last saw each other. I don't know if you know but I left the Death Eaters months before the final battle. I couldn't do it anymore, I had to get out. I didn't understand it all properly when I joined their ranks.'

'Don't give me that Malfoy,' Hermione said, 'you knew _exactly_ what Voldemort had done in the past and was doing after he came back, _your father was a Death Eater_ for God's sake! You can't possibly expect us to believe that you didn't know what you were getting yourself in to. And let's say, for arguments sake, that you didn't know what becoming a Death Eater entailed, you should have caught on when your Dark _Lord_ instructed you to _kill Dumbledore_!' Hermione shrieked.

Malfoy looked at her then looked at the floor.

'I couldn't do it though could I?' he said quietly.

Hermione stared at him, she had never in her life thought an admission of failure would come out of Malfoy's mouth.

'You were there Potter, although I wasn't sure of it at the time. You could see there was no way I could have done it.'

He looked at Harry and for the first time Hermione thought she saw an almost pleading look in his eyes, as if he was hoping against anything that Harry would believe something, anything, he said.

Harry paused for a few seconds before he spoke, 'yeah I saw,' he admitted quietly, 'you er…you lowered your wand. I knew then you weren't…that you weren't going to do it.'

'Look,' Malfoy continued, all arrogance gone from his voice, 'I know I don't deserve anything from you, I suppose I don't deserve to be alive, but you have to know that I never killed anyone…I…I cursed people, of course I did, but I couldn't kill anyone. I mean I _can_ use the curse, my father made sure of that when he thought I was old enough to start following in his footsteps, but I never used it on another human being, wizard or muggle. You _have_ to believe that.'

Harry looked at the floor; he started to feel a bit uncomfortable.

'I was tortured for not doing it on a few occasion,' Malfoy continued, 'I was such a disappointment to the Dark Lord, his youngest recruit was thinking _far_ too independently and not taking _His_ word as gospel. A few months before the end I realised I had become surplus to requirements, I overheard him talking to one of the others that I was soon to be disposed of, and being a Slytherin through and through I decided to risk running away in a feeble attempt to save my own neck. Think of me as a coward if you want, I doubt either of you would have done any different.'

He stopped talking and looked disgusted with himself, it was as if his admissions had hurt him physically, for a moment he looked like he was going to be sick, but a second later he had wiped his face blank of any emotion and looked up at Hermione.

'So what now?' Harry asked.

'I suppose I need to show you that you _can_ trust me. That's the only way that I'm going to get you to agree to my requests isn't it?'

'It would be a start,' Hermione replied.

'Well, in which case I'll do what I said I would. I'll tell you how to revive Weasley.'

Hermione glared at him, the hope in her heart threatened to burst out of her chest and illuminate the whole cave, but she quickly suppressed it, not letting herself think that way.

Harry looked up at Malfoy in disbelief. Malfoy used the silence from the two of them as a sign to continue.

'I told you that the counters were complex, well you'll realise why in a minute. Instead of there just being one spell needed to revive the person who was hit, you need three. One goes part way to waking them up, one gives them the energy needed to wake up, and the third restores all their mind to them.'

'What are the spells? And actually what's the incantation for the spell itself?' Hermione asked.

The spell itself is Somnus Aeternus, and the counters are Vita Renovatio, Vis Donatus and Pretiritus Memor.'

'So all that is needed is for three people to cast those spells on Ron?' Harry asked hopefully.

'No, there's more to it than that.'

'Of course there is,' Hermione sighed.

'Basically the spells are sensitive to a specific type of wand core, they'll only work with those types and none others.'

'What are the cores needed?' Hermione asked quickly.

'Luckily for you they're the ones Ollivander used: dragon heartstring, unicorn hair and phoenix tail feather.'

'Well that's one thing at least.'

Malfoy went quiet.

'There's something else isn't there,' Hermione asked, she felt the panic rise up her throat.

'Yes, well there might be, I'm not exactly sure.'

'What do you mean _you're not sure_?' Harry demanded.

'I mean…I don't know whether they'll have made it so only Death Eaters can use them and counter the everlasting sleep spell. They might not have done, but it seems like something-'

'A Death Eater would revel in the thought of,' Hermione finished for him, bitterness emanating from her.

'I thought you said you knew how to _wake him up_! Harry shouted at Malfoy, he stepped two paces forward as he did so.

'I _do_ and I've told you what I know!'

'But you just said we might not be able to do it!'

'That's hardly _my_ fault! I didn't invent the spells. And anyway if I'm one of the three that performs one of them then my dark mark might be enough to work. I know it's not the best but it's_ something_. And you're a hell of a lot nearer to waking him up now than you were an hour ago!'

Harry said nothing, knowing Malfoy was right. There was still a chance.

Hermione was looking at Malfoy and she knew what he had told them was true.

'So what now?' she asked.

'I suppose that's up to you,' Malfoy replied quietly.

'Well we'll have to get you into St. Mungo's somehow, so you can perform the counters with us.'

'Hey hang on a minute Hermione! Shouldn't we-'

'What? Shouldn't we what?' she snapped in reply.

'I dunno, discuss this first or something?'

'What's there to discuss? We know how we can try and revive Ron, surely the only thing we need to discuss is _how_ and _when_?'

Harry looked at the determined way she had set her jaw, it was uncannily like the way Ron did when he was determined to get his own way. Apparently his expressions had rubbed off on her somewhat.

'I know that all you want to do is try out the spells, but there's a bigger picture here. Don't look at me like that,' Hermione's eyes had suddenly become wider than he had ever seen, he turned to Malfoy, 'you need to tell us exactly what you'll want from us if you help us with the spells.'

Hermione went to open her mouth in protest, she felt unbelievably angry with Harry. Since when was he one to look at the bigger picture? This was the boy who ran away from home at thirteen years old with nowhere to go! She went to argue the point but he cut her off.

'Hermione _please._ Don't make this harder than it already is. I _know_ how you feel but we _cannot_ rush into this.'

Hermione stopped trying to interrupt but carried on glaring at Harry.

'Look, I just think we have to take things slowly, so there's no mistakes made in _any_ part of this. _Please_ tell me you understand that.'

She lowered her gaze to the floor but her displeasure was still obvious to see.

'Fine,' she spat.

'Good,' he turned to Malfoy, 'Now, what is it exactly you have to tell the Ministry, I don't mean specifics but what are we generally talking about here.'

Malfoy cleared his throat.

'Well…I can tell them the rest of the spells they invented which are like the everlasting sleep spell, I can tell them where some of the Death Eaters are hiding who have yet to be captured and I can tell them the location of one of the places we used to work from.'

'Only one?'

'Yes _only one_,' he said angrily, but quickly calmed himself down. 'Some Death Eaters were made secret keepers, one for each of the buildings, that way if any of us were caught and forced to reveal anything then only one place could be revealed.'

'Wasn't that a bit risky?' Hermione asked, 'And _very_ trusting of Voldemort?'

'I thought the same, but it was impractical for the Dark Lord to be keeper for everywhere, he didn't like to…er…associate too much with us _lowers_, so he spread the responsibility around.

'I'm still confused,' Hermione said, 'if you were a 'lower' as you put it, then why were you trusted with a secret like that?'

'Ah, well that was more of an act of desperation than anything else. Goyle had just been killed by one of the Ministry's hit wizards and he was one of the secret keepers. They had to act fast to replace him and I was the only one there who wasn't already one.'

'Oh, ok.'

'So is that everything?' Harry asked.

'At the minute, I know the more information I have then the more likely the Ministry will leave me to my own sad little life, so I'll try and get more information.'

'Not wishing to sound like I care about you Malfoy,' Harry said, 'but won't your Death Eater mates be a tiny bit annoyed when they find out you've been giving the Ministry information about them?'

'Don't worry yourself about me Potter, I can look after myself, and besides, I intend to leave the country if I get the chance.'

'Then why haven't you left already? Why didn't you disappear when you left the Death Eaters?' Hermione asked, hoping that she hadn't just put the idea in his head.

'Because if I leave I'll have no money and it would make things much easier if I did. I can't exactly stroll into Gringott's and ask for a withdrawal with things as they are can I? And if I just disappear I'll always be looking over my shoulder, I don't want to live like that. And believe it or not I want to do the right thing. I need to try and rectify the stupid mistakes I've made in my life, if that's at all possible.'

'I never thought I'd see the day when I'd hear those words come out of your mouth Malfoy.' Harry said quietly.

Malfoy smirked, 'neither did I Potter, neither did I. But as Granger here said earlier, people change.'

'Dare I breach the subject of how we get Malfoy into the hospital again?' Hermione asked Harry.

'Before you say anything Potter, I'll make my offer. I'll come with you to the hospital and help you try and revive the Weasel, and then you can talk to whoever you need to at the Ministry, I can't do more than that can I?'

Hermione looked taken aback, but inside she was doing a dance, this way, whatever happened with the Ministry, there was a chance they could wake Ron up.

'No you can't,' she replied for Harry.

'Then I suppose I just have to wait for you to tell me when you want to do it. I'll await your message. Now, if you don't mind, I'll be leaving.'

He waited for either Harry or Hermione to protest. When they didn't he turned and walked to the entrance of the cave.

'Malfoy!' Hermione said just as he was about to disappear from her sight. He stopped and turned back towards her.

'I er…I…'

'Don't worry Granger, I won't make you say the words.'

He pulled his hood over his head and turned on the spot, leaving a trail of dust swirling on the ground as he did so.


	31. Chapter 31 Hiding Away

16/05/06:- Thanks for telling me bout the huge grammar mistake I made, I wasn't sure about it but stupidly just went with it. Really should have paid more attention to 'Penny and me' by Hanson, that may have given me a hint. Anyway I couldn't leave it how it was, so I've changed it. For those who haven't read the chapter before and have no idea what I'm talking about, just have a quick look at the reviews for this chapter, that'll set you straight! Cheers, Step ;)

**(Original AN:) Hiya, bit of an interlude from the madness, thought this was well short but it's not, reads quite quickly though. Erm...not much more to say really, again, thanks for the reviews always much appreciated. The next one really will be a while (I know I said this one would be but hey!) because I haven't even started to write it yet and the next few days are hectic as hell! Hope you like this one. Please R & R ;)**

**Step**

Chapter 31

Hermione was sat cross-legged on the hard wooden floor, gazing at the stars out of the skylight. Their house had an attic which had been converted into a bedroom by the previous owners. Her and Harry had yet to decide what to do with it so it was, at present, quite a large empty space, with only a couple of boxes which held some of their stuff from Hogwarts, and a few books that Hermione didn't have room for in her bedroom.

The full moon was shining through the skylight, she stared at it and briefly thought of Remus and Tonks who would no doubt be wishing this night would be over, but quickly her thoughts returned to where they spent most of the time, with Ron in St. Mungo's. It was during tea that she had suddenly gone cold inside and she no longer felt hungry, or even capable of eating another bite. She had excused herself from the table, apologised to Ginny for not being able to eat the substantial snack she had made for the three of them to eat before they went to bed, as she did so, and disappeared into the attic.

As ever when she wanted to be totally alone she had made the hatch imperturbable and had put silencing charms around it so she couldn't hear any attempts Ginny or Harry made of getting her to come down. She knew how much it frustrated them, but at the moment she didn't care, all she could think about was the huge revelation that had come to her fifteen minutes earlier.

When they had apparated back to Hogsmeade they had collected Ginny from the pub. She had been sat in the corner with Hagrid, who had insisted on buying her drinks for the time she had been there. In some ways it was a comfort, talking about school and reminiscing about the good times she'd had there, but her mind always took her back to the cave outside the village.

When they had got home Harry had explained to Ginny what had gone on in the cave between him, Hermione and Malfoy. She had been as amazed by Malfoy's request as Hermione and Harry, and unsure of how she should feel about the revelation of her brother's condition.

Out of the small window Hermione couldn't distinguish any specific constellations, but still she stared at the single stars thinking she might feel better if she believed that wishing on the first one she had seen would help.

She shifted position so she was now led on the hard floor, her arms crossed above her head, wand in hand and eyes closed. Her stomach was squirming and there was nothing she could do to make it stop. As she thought _that_ thought again, tears welled in her eyes and after another few seconds they ran down her temples into her hair but she didn't make a sound, she didn't shudder with sobs, tears just left her eyes and made tracks down her face.

As she laid on the floor, eyes closed to the space around her she was blissfully unaware of the commotion happening outside the window, not that she'd have seen anything if she had opened her eyes.

When Harry and Ginny had been unable to get into the attic Ginny had had what Harry thought was a stupid idea but she wasn't going to let it go, so he had given up. The skylight which Hermione had been gazing through was the only way into the attic as Hermione had made the hatch impossible to get near, 'I hate her being so bloody clever sometimes!' Ginny had exclaimed in a moment of frustration, hence the plan she had come up with. It involved a broom, (namely Harry's Firebolt) an invisibility cloak, (again Harry's) and someone going through the skylight on said broom and under said invisibility cloak, (namely Harry).

Five minutes after Harry had given in to Ginny he was hovering outside the window, granted it looked bigger than he thought, but he was right in thinking it was smaller than Ginny had made it out to be. For another minute he hovered, trying to determine the best way to get into the attic, but after realising there was no safe way to do it with the window as it was, he raised his wand and banished the glass.

Hoping Hermione wouldn't realise there was a breeze now filling the room he laid low on his broom and managed to manoeuvre himself through the now glassless window and touched down on the wooden floor, unbelievably without Hermione opening her eyes.

He pulled off his cloak and dropped it on to the floor and then leant his broom against the wall, he let go and the broom slid sideways and landed with a loud thump on the floor.

Hermione's eyes snapped open and she sat up in a fraction of a second and threw her wand arm forward and silently cast the disarming spell. Harry's eyes widened as his wand left his hand, hit the ceiling sending red sparks in every direction and then landed with a clatter on the floor behind him.

'Jesus Harry! What the hell are you doing? How did you get in?' she demanded.

'I flew through the window!' he said, slightly shocked by the speed and ferocity of her actions.

'You what?'

'I flew in to the room through the window, there was no way I could get in through the hatch so Ginny decided I should get in through here.

'Did either of you think that the reason I made the hatch impenetrable from that side was that I wanted to be on my own?' she subconsciously wiped the tears of her face with the sleeve of her jumper and looked at the floor.

'Yes Hermione we did,' Harry replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

'Well thanks for taking my feelings into consideration.'

'Oh don't take that tone Hermione, you know why I'm here, and you've got to admire the trouble I went to, to get in!' he said with a smile on his face.

Something inside her smiled, but she couldn't make her face mirror the feeling. Instead she turned her attention to Harry's wand, which was still led a few metres behind him. She waved her own and summoned Harry's to her and then held it out for him to take.

'Thanks,' he muttered.

He sat down opposite Hermione on the floor and looked at her, his expression softened as he noticed her bloodshot eyes.

'H why have you been crying?' he asked her softly, 'I thought you'd be happy after what happened tonight. Things couldn't really have gone much better for us, could they?'

As Harry's words met her ears, tears began to fall again, this time accompanied by a small sob that left her mouth before she could get her hand to it, to stop its escape. Harry quickly moved forward next to her and put his arms around her, enveloping her in a hug. She grabbed on to him like her life depended on it, and cried into his shoulder.

'Oh Hermione, don't cry. You're making my shoulder wet for one, and for another…Ron hates it when you're upset.'

On hearing Ron's name Hermione had taken a deep breath and tried to compose herself, it worked a little, her breathing levelled out but tears still fell from her eyes.

'That's the other thing he made me promise him you know, to comfort you and to try and make you smile if you were upset and crying, because he hated seeing you sad. That's why I'm here and ignored your obvious attempts to shut yourself away, I wouldn't be doing what he asked if I let you shut yourself away and get all upset. Which is exactly what you were doing wasn't it.'

She nodded into his shoulder, not trusting herself to make a dignified sound just yet.

'Well then, it's a good thing I risked giving one of our neighbours a shock then isn't it, not that that would have happened, I'm too good!'

She couldn't help but utter a small laugh at his comment. She pulled back and wiped her face for the second time.

'That's better, now what's got you this worked up?'

Hermione breathed deeply, taking a second to compose herself.

'I…er…I realised something when we were eating earlier. Malfoy…he told us that Ron was hit by that spell and the only way to revive him is to use those three counters with a Death Eater present. Well…what if it takes three Death Eaters to do it? What then? There's no way in hell that two other Death Eaters are going to come forward and volunteer for the job are they? They'd rather die than help the Ministry or us. So if…' she breathed in a shuddering breath, 'so if it doesn't work with Malfoy then that really is it. We're out of options, and he'll be in that everlasting sleep until the day he dies.'

'Hermione…'

'Please Harry, don't tell me there's another way, we both know there isn't.'

Harry hung his head, he wanted to contradict her, but he knew she was right. His thoughts mirrored those Ginny had had earlier. Sometimes he wished Hermione wasn't as clever as she was, a realisation like this was something she didn't need.

'It seems I've become talented in stunning you into silence,' she said quietly, her tone saddened.

'I just don't know what to say to make you feel better. I'm trying to think of something, anything that would help, but nothing's coming to me.'

'There's nothing to say, unfortunately it's just one of those things we'll somehow have to learn to accept.'

'How can anyone learn to accept that?' Harry whispered, almost to himself.

On hearing his words Hermione started to cry again, there was nothing she could do to stop the tears falling.

'Oh Hermione I'm sorry, I just…don't know what to say.'

'That's…that's ok.'

She twirled her wand with her fingers and stared at the floor. Harry put his hand on her shoulder trying to comfort her.

'Look Hermione…I know…I know that things could go spectacularly pear shaped when we try and revive Ron, but there's still a chance that it'll work. I know I normally tell you to try and not get your hopes up, but there is a real chance that this might work. Malfoy's just going off the general known vindictiveness of the Death Eaters in thinking there might be more to it-'

'Well he'd know all about that, which is why what he said scares me. It scares me so much because it sounds exactly like the kind of thing that Death Eaters would do, doesn't it?'

'Well yes…it does, but there might be a more practical reason why they might not have done. What if they couldn't guarantee that a Death Eater could be present if one of them or their family or friends was hit with it? They'd still want them to be reawakened wouldn't they? So they might not have done it for that reason.'

Hermione looked at him, she wanted to believe what he said, and in some way it made sense, but it didn't get rid of the gnawing sensation at the back of her mind that refused to go away with any amount of reasoning.

'I want to believe you Harry, but I don't think I can.'

'I understand that, but can I suggest we cross that bridge when we come to it? There is absolutely no point in worrying ourselves about what might not happen.'

Hermione looked up at him reproachfully.

'I know that's the easiest thing to say and the hardest thing to do,' he added at the look on her face, 'but will you please try, for Ginny and I. Please?'

Hermione smiled.

'Ginny and me,' she corrected, almost apologetically.

Harry smiled.

'_Dammit_! That's the last time I try and be smart.'

Hermione laughed, 'Yes, we wouldn't want youstraining yourself now would we?'

Harry raised his eyebrows, 'Well I can see you're feeling better! Now, will you come downstairs and put Ginny out of her misery?'

'Yes I will.'

'Good.'

Harry stood up and held his hand out to Hermione. She grasped it and their combined efforts helped her stand. Harry turned around and picked his broom and cloak off the floor. Hermione walked over to the hatch and lifted the charms that were on it. Before she opened it she turned to Harry who was stood behind her.

'I will try Harry, I promise.'

'That's all I ask Hermione. That's all I ask.'


	32. Chapter 32 Finding Normality

**I try and be organised and not leave things till the last minute, but when I do, everything else out of my control (goes wrong) you can imagine (those) weren't the words I've been using all day! Anyway, three days till I finish my degree...and then I'm seeing Take That on Monday night...Oh yes! Absolutely marvelous**

**Back to the story and less of my ramblings, sorry it was a while...for me anyway - queen of fast updates - it's here at last. Think it's starting to wind up now to the end, and we'll all see whether Ron will wake up or not! ;)**

**Cheers, Step ;)..ooo please R&R!**

* * *

Chapter 32

There was a loud ringing in her head but Hermione didn't know where it was coming from or what it was. She slowly opened her eyes and realised that the phone was ringing in the lounge, all the way downstairs. She dragged herself out of bed and stumbled towards her door as she tried to wake up. As she reached the bottom of the stairs it clicked onto their answer phone message, well, Hermione's answer phone message, Harry had refused to have anything to do with the recording of it so it had been down to her.

"Hello, we're sorry but we can't come to the phone right now, but if you leave a message then we'll get back to you."

It was a very brief message and she had purposely left their names out of it. She didn't know why, but if someone was hoping to get confirmation that the famous Harry Potter, and not quite so famous Hermione Granger lived at the house they were ringing, they were going to be disappointed.

'Hermione it's your mum, I was just wondering if you were coming round to see us today, your Aunty Christine and Uncle Tony are coming round and they wanted to see you. If you could give us a ring when you get this, we haven't heard-'

'I'm here mum,' Hermione said, having finally reached the phone and picked it up, 'sorry, I was asleep.'

'Oh I'm sorry dear, I thought you'd be awake.'

'Mum, it's barely nine o'clock and it's Sunday!'

'Yes well, never mind. How much of my message did you hear?'

Hermione slumped down on the sofa, resisting the urge to lie down, she had a feeling she would want to close her eyes, and this would greatly increase the chance of her falling asleep whilst talking to her mum, which wouldn't go down well at all.

'Erm…all of it I think. Aunty Christine is coming round and you wanted to know if I was doing the same.'

'Yes I think that was all of it.'

'Is Rachel coming too?' Hermione asked with a grimace on her face. Rachel was Hermione's cousin and was the world's biggest show off. What made things worse was she was as intelligent as Hermione – well no, she wasn't, but Rachel thought she was, and seemed to think that they were in competition for the highest grades and the best social life.

'Yes she is, she thought she'd come round to see us all before she went back to university.'

'Oh Merlin above! I'm going to have to endure all her stories about how wonderful her first year of uni was aren't I?' Hermione groaned. Her mum laughed quietly,

'Yes I'm afraid you might have to, and you'll have to stop praying to Merlin when they're here too!'

'Oh, I'm _so_ going to forget! What am I going to say when they ask me about uni, hang on, we did tell them that's where I went didn't we.'

'Erm yes…yes we did…'

Hermione sensed her mum was keeping something back from her, 'Mum what aren't you telling me?'

'Well…I might have gone a bit over the top when I was telling Christine about your university life.'

Hermione heard someone moving behind her, she twisted round and saw Harry walk to the sofa, holding the enchanted coin with raised eyebrows as he did so. Momentarily forgetting she was on the phone to her mum she stood up and moved in front of Harry.

'Harry what is it?' she asked him. She had the strangest feeling inside of her, how could she be worrying about what her cousin thought of her after everything that had happened last night, and everything she had yet to tell her parents, if she was going to at all.

'Malfoy's sent us another message. It's nothing major, just thought you should know. Carry on talking.'

'Hermione what's wrong?' she heard her mum ask in her ear.

'Nothing's wrong mum, can I call you back in about ten minutes, I just have to sort something out.'

'Are you sure nothing's wrong Hermione?'

'Yes mum I'm sure, I'll phone you back soon.'

'Ok then, love you.'

'Love you too mum.'

She hung up the phone and dropped it on the sofa.

'I said you could carry on taking, it really isn't anything major,' Harry said trying to stifle a yawn.

'I don't care, what does it say?'

'It says, "Can't meet in Hgsmd" – I'm presuming he means Hogsmeade – "Aurors around, may have been spotted.'

'Oh he would get spotted _now_ wouldn't he. Did he say anything else?' Hermione asked.

'No. You can't really get much more around the edge of a coin, H.'

'Ok, well do we need to send one back?'

'Saying what? We haven't decided how we're going to do things yet so it would be pointless until we have.'

'Yeah I suppose, are we doing that later on?'

'Well that's what we said last night before you…'

'Hid away in the attic.'

'That's the one.'

'Ok, and there was me worrying about seeing my cousin this afternoon!'

'You're cousin…Rachel?'

'Yeah that's the one. Want to come?'

'From what you've told me about her, no thanks.'

'I don't blame you!'

Hermione sat back down on the sofa, moving the phone before she sat on it and gazed at nothing in particular.

'Harry, do you think I should tell my parents what's going on with Ron?'

'Oh er…I dunno Hermione.'

'I suppose it would be hypocritical if I do, I asked Ginny not to tell Molly or Arthur.'

'It's different though isn't it. I mean your parents aren't exactly going to bump into Rufus Scrimgeour any time soon are they?'

'Well no, but still. Anyway on a totally different point, they'd probably worry if I told them, and I probably wouldn't get chance to tell them today seeing as though I have to make up lots of very interesting stories about my imaginary life at university to keep my cousin happy.'

'They still don't know you're a witch then?'

'Goodness no! But then again I would love to see the smile on Rachel's face if I got to tell her. That is something she wouldn't be able to tell me she had done first, or better, or with better grades.'

Harry chuckled.

'She can't have got better grades than _you_ Hermione, I know you didn't exactly study the same subjects these last few years but surely they're comparable. Just tell her you got top grades in everything you took. It's the truth at least.'

'Well not quite.'

'You're going to be annoyed about that one little 'E' for the rest of your life aren't you?'

'Would you think I was strange if I said yes?'

'If it was anyone else then yes, I probably would but because it's you…no!'

'I'm not exactly sure how to take that Harry.'

Harry gave her a cheeky grin, but then turned round when he heard movement behind them. Ginny came into the lounge with a huge glass of water and sat down next to Harry on the sofa.

'Water Gin?' he asked, putting his arm around her and kissing her forehead. 'Where's your usual coffee?'

'I need to be able to drink something fast. I don't think I realised how much Hagrid actually gave me to drink last night and I'm gasping!'

'Headache?' Hermione asked.

'No no, nothing like that just gasping for some water.'

She turned and sat cross-legged on the three seater facing Harry and Hermione. 'So, I believe we were going to talk about what to do next, this morning weren't we?'

'Yes we were,' Hermione replied.

'Well, I realised something when I woke up. Us trainee Healers have got to go into St. Mungo's tomorrow and decide which of the wards we would like to be on for the first of our many two week placements.'

'Already?' Hermione asked, 'you've only been training since the end of July!'

'I know, they don't actually take place until the new year but we look at one ward every week and that takes a while and then we have to have 'deciding time' so they start them now. Anyway my point was, around eleven o'clock there's going to be groups of people walking around the wards, which means any Healers who are on duty might be a bit more distracted than they usually would be. _So_, it might be an ideal opportunity to get Malfoy in there, with the help of your invisibility cloak of course.'

She fell silent, Harry and Hermione looked at her and then at each other.

'That could work,' Harry said.

'It's quite short notice though,' Hermione said, trying desperately hard not to think that all her prayers could be answered at precisely eleven o'clock tomorrow, give or take a few minutes.

'Well I doubt Malfoy's got many pressing engagements and remember how he was with the last meeting, he brought it forward to the next night.'

'That's true,' Harry agreed, 'well, we won't know anything until we change the coin. Where did I leave it?'

'And you wondered why Hermione wanted to be the only one who touched it!' Ginny said, exasperated at the thought that Harry had mislaid it.

'All right, all right, keep your hair on! I put it on the coffee table. Look it's there.' He reached over and picked the coin off the low table. He handed it to Hermione silently.

'Are we meeting him somewhere first?' she asked.

'Do you mean do I want him to be able to search him so he doesn't have his wand?'

'Well, yeah I do.'

'Well he's got to have a wand at some point so there doesn't seem much point. Plus…as much as I hate to say it, it might help us, if we showed him we trusted him…a little. It goes against everything my head's telling me to do but never mind.'

'I suppose!' Hermione mumbled.

'Oh! I almost forgot, I thought of something else. Do we have all three wand cores? I mean between the three of _us_, we've only got two 'cause mine and yours are the same aren't they Hermione.'

'Yes they are, that's typical. Do you think Malfoy's will be unicorn hair?'

'I dunno, you'll have to ask him on the coin?' Harry said.

'If it isn't…could we use…Ron's wand. His is unicorn hair.'

'Erm, yeah I suppose we could,' Ginny replied, 'I'd have to get it from home and hope mum doesn't notice it's disappeared.'

'Is she likely to?'

'Probably not, she doesn't go into his room as much anymore, just every few days to make sure it's still as clean as she'd like it to be. I could always put one of Fred and George's fake wands in its place, even if she moves it she's not going to wave it around so it won't change…hopefully.'

'Right well at least we know we've got all three cores, regardless of what Malfoy's is,' Hermione said, a small amount of relief showing on her face. 'That's one less thing to worry about, we don't have to ask him that then, one less thing to try and fit on the edge of a coin!'

'But we still have to get him there unseen, which means you'll have to meet him somewhere to give him the cloak,' Ginny reminded them.

'Ok ok, here's a plan. I'll meet him in Knockturn Alley and give him the cloak, then we apparate straight to St. Mungo's so I don't have to go back into Diagon Alley and face any awkward questions.'

'Harry you can't go down there!' Hermione exclaimed.

'Why not? It's not exactly busy down there anymore is it?'

'Yeah but still,' Ginny said in protest, 'I'm not too keen on the idea either. How about…'

'How about what?' Hermione asked calmly.

'How about you bring him here first?'


	33. Chapter 33 Angry Words

**Well, you finish your degree and think that you have nothing to do, and then you find out you've got a portfolio to organise and a degree show to do a presentation board for! Shocking really! lol**

**Anyway another chapter for you all, I'm sorry if you think it's dragging a bit but I don't think it's as simple as they know how to wake Ron up so lets charge in there and do it. Plus if you think I'm evil about making you wait ages for something to happen I'll happily point you in the direction of people who are sooooooooooo much more evil than me! ;) Back to the chapter, I love writing fighting between Hermione and Harry, dunno why I just do! Please let me know what you think. **

**Step ;)**

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Chapter 33

Harry turned his head slowly towards Ginny and stared at her.

'What?' she asked at the look on his face.

'I'm sorry, I thought you just suggested bringing him here first, but you wouldn't say anything like that, would you Gin?'

'It's not that bad a suggestion,' Hermione said, backing Ginny up, 'in fact it's probably the best thing to do.'

'_Have you both gone insane_?' Harry asked standing up as he did so.

Ginny rolled her eyes and glanced at Hermione, she in turn sighed loudly at Harry's reaction.

'Oh Harry stop being an arse and calm down!' Hermione said moving so she was sat forward on the edge of the sofa.

Harry raised his eyebrows at Hermione's comments but before he could protest at the name-calling she carried on.

'What's wrong with bringing him here for all of thirty seconds whilst he puts the cloak on and then apparates to the hospital? What's he going to do? Have a go at the décor? Tell us we should have gone with another colour for the curtains?'

'I…Well he could…he…_I don't TRUST HIM, and I HATE the idea of him being in MY HOUSE_!'

'Believe me Harry, I'm not too keen on the idea either but what else can we do? It was you who told me to look at the bigger picture the other night, _now practice what you preach and do the same bloody thing_!'

'I AM looking at the bigger picture, what happens if we bring him here, therefore practically tattooing our address on his forehead, and then he lets it slip to one of his Death Eater pals? We're not exactly flavour of the month with them are we?'

'That's a risk I'm willing to take, not that I think it _is_ a risk because he said he'd tell the Ministry where the rest of them were and he's hardly going to be on speaking terms with them after he's sold them out is he?'

'_That's a risk you're willing to take?_' he asked, not believing what he had just heard Hermione say.

'Yes it is,' she replied quietly but firmly.

'You're willing to risk your own safety, my safety and Ginny's safety for the sake of…'

'Of what Harry? For the sake of waking up the person I love more than anyone in the world? For the sake of bringing back a son, a brother and a _best friend_ back to the land of the living where he deserves to be? _Yes I damn well would risk it_.'

'OK, I think this has gone on for long enough!' Ginny said moving to stand between the two arguing friends. 'Harry I know this is really hard for you but unless you can think of anything else – which doesn't involve Knockturn Alley – then I suggest you get used to the idea. Hermione, I know you want to wake Ron up more than anything in the world, _we_ _all_ _do_, but Harry has a point. I know you think Malfoy's changed and I half believe it myself, but we still have to be _extremely_ careful in the way we deal with him.'

Hermione and Harry looked at the floor, knowing they had both been put in their place by Ginny, but they both scowled, as they believed their point had been most important.

'Now apologise to each other and wipe those scowls off your faces, we still have to think up a plan and tell Malfoy.'

'Sorry,' mumbled Harry.

'I'm sorry,' Hermione said in the same tone.

'Oh at least _try_ and sound like you mean it!' Ginny snapped, irritated by the two of them.

Hermione sighed and raised her head, looking Harry in the eye.

'I'm sorry Harry, really I am. I didn't mean to sound like I didn't care about anything but waking Ron up; of course I care about our safety. I'm sorry.'

'Apology accepted,' he said, 'and I'm sorry too. I'll learn not to let my petty annoyances get in the way of the real issue, and once we've got this place a bit more protected then I'll let him through the door, so to speak. I promise.'

'Thank you,' she replied with a smile, 'apology accepted.'

'Good.'

'Well I'm glad that's over. Now, what are we going to do?'

'Hang on, why don't you Side-Along-Apparate him here so he doesn't know where he's going?'

'Will that work – him not knowing where he's going?' Ginny asked.

'I'm not sure, I think it would normally, but I don't know with Malfoy.'

'Why don't we make the house unplottable?' Hermione asked.

'It already is,' Harry replied.

'It is?' Hermione asked, slightly shocked.

'Yeah, the Ministry insisted when we moved in. I couldn't be bothered to argue the point. It saved us having to do it, like now for instance.'

'Oh, well I suppose that's a good thing.'

They fell silent, trying to think of anything else that could help.

'Couldn't we charm the house so it doesn't look like itself?'

'I don't know how to,' Hermione said, 'I've seen it done but I don't know the incantation, and if we're doing this tomorrow then I doubt we'll have the time to master the spell, I think it's quite a hard piece of magic to perform.'

'Oh.'

'Look, I'm sure we're making this far too complicated for ourselves,' Harry said as he started to get frustrated with their lack of solutions to the problem. 'We just need somewhere secluded to meet him so we can give him the cloak and then apparate to St. Mungo's. If he was spotted around Hogsmeade then we shouldn't go there obviously, but there must be somewhere we can meet up.'

'We could always let him suggest a place. I know that's a bit risky, but I doubt he'll want to go anywhere too drastic. It saves us getting frustrated and annoyed because we can't think of anywhere,' Hermione suggested.

'I like the sound of that,' Ginny replied.

'It can't hurt to ask him, we can always tell him to think of somewhere else if we don't like what he says,' said Harry.

'Exactly,' Hermione said.

'Right I suppose we'd better change the coin,' Ginny prompted.

'Ok,' Hermione said, picking it up off the table,' so we need to tell him eleven o'clock tomorrow at St. Mungo's, but tell him we have to meet him somewhere else first to give him the invisibility cloak…oh, and then we have to tell him to suggest somewhere to meet.'

'Are you asking him what his wand core is?' Ginny asked.

'How much information do you think I can get on a coin edge?' she replied with a smile.

'Fair enough.'

After thinking hard for a minute Hermione managed to transfigure the message into the metal. She had to drop the occasional vowel like Malfoy had done earlier but it was still legible, just.

'And now we wait,' she said.

'And now we wait,' Ginny repeated.

'Er…Hermione, weren't you supposed to phone your mum back, like half an hour ago?'

Hermione's eyes widened.

'Oh Merlin, she is _not_ going to be happy!'

Harry and Ginny smiled and left Hermione alone in the lounge to make her phone call. Hermione dialled her old home phone number and waited for a reply.

'Hello,' she heard her mum say in her ear.

'Mum it's me, sorry it took so long to phone you back, things took longer than I expected.'

'What were you doing Hermione, I was starting to get worried.'

'We just had some stuff to sort out, it's nothing really.'

'"Nothing" doesn't tend to take half an hour to sort out Hermione!'

'Mum, I'm really sorry but I can't tell you at the moment, I swear as soon as I can I will do, but I can't risk anything for the sake of a few days. I'll try and tell you a bit more later on but I can't now. I'm sorry, I know that's not what you want to hear.'

'No Hermione, it's not. I thought you could tell me anything.'

'Mum please don't say that, of course I know I can tell you anything and I said I'll try and do so this afternoon. You'll understand why I can't when I tell you it all eventually, because I _will_ tell you eventually. I promise.'

'Nothing bad is about to happen is it Hermione? You aren't putting yourself in danger again are you?'

'No mum I'm not. I swear, I'm fine and I will be fine. If everything goes to plan then I will tell you everything tomorrow night.'

'You promise me you will.'

'Yes, I promise.'

'Ok then, I suppose I'll have to be happy with that. So are you definitely coming round this afternoon, I have to know how many to cook for, for tea.'

'Are you making a Sunday roast?'

'Yes I am.'

'In which case how can I refuse, of course I'll be there. I can endure an afternoon of Rachel if I get to eat your Sunday dinner!'

Jan laughed. Hermione smiled but then remembered how her mum was about to tell her something about her imaginary university life in their earlier conversation.

'Mum what exactly have you told Rachel and Aunty Christine about my pretend university life?'

'Ah well…I might have been…a bit over-elaborate about what you've been involved in over the past year.'

Hermione closed her eyes, knowing her acting skills were going to have to be exceptional to meet her mum's lies.

'What did you tell them?' she asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

'Well I might have said that you were asked to become a member of the Student's Union committee in your first term because you got to know the President and she was highly impressed with your views and issues you had with student life.'

'_Mum_! How am I supposed to know what to say when Aunty Christine asks me about the committee? I haven't got a clue about how many people there are; I don't know what happens at their meetings, and I haven't a clue about how you would go about changing any issues that arose!'

'Well, you'll have got all that information before you joined the committee because you write in the student newspaper on a weekly basis.'

'You have got to be kidding. What in God's name would I have to write about?'

'Being on the Hockey team.'

'The HOCKY TEAM? Mum! When have I EVER had an interest in SPORT?'

'Don't shout Hermione, there's no need.'

'I think I have every reason to shout! Next you'll be telling me I run the whole sodding university!'

'Oh stop being ridiculous Hermione, the only reason I said those things is because Christine was going on and on about how brilliant a time Rachel was having, and how she was becoming so involved in University life. I wanted to tell her exactly what you've been doing for the past nine years and how proud of you I am for doing everything you've been doing but I couldn't, so I told her what I thought the equivalent could be in our world.'

Hermione fell silent and smiled. She knew her mum was proud of her and knew how much her Aunty Christine liked to show off about Rachel. So she could hardly blame her mum for trying to stand up for Hermione.

'Thanks mum; I understand why you did it. You know I could always perform a charm on them to make them think I've told them everything already.'

'I don't think that will be necessary Hermione, we'll do this the hard way.'

'Ah well, if you insist!'

'I do,' Jan replied.

'Ok, so what time shall I come round?'

'How about two-ish?'

'That sounds fine.'

'I'll see you then, Hermione.'

'Ok, see you later mum.'

'Love you.' Her mum said for the second time that morning.

'I love you too mum. Bye.'

Hermione dropped the phone on the sofa next to her and sighed. She heard movement behind her in the kitchen.

'Harry?' she asked.

'Yeah?' he replied.

'How many people are there on a hockey team?'


	34. Chapter 34 Troubling News

**I promise we'll get to St. Mungo's in time but there;s a twist before we do! Man I _love_ having nothing to do! Please R & R. Cake and ice cream to those who do ;)**

**Step XxXxX ;)**

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Chapter 34

'You promise you'll tell me if Malfoy send us a message?' Hermione asked Harry as she pulled her jacket on, ready to go to her parent's house. She had already absent-mindedly pulled on her cloak before Harry reminded her where she was going.

'_Yes_ Hermione, I…actually what will I do if he does, shall I just apparate to yours? But then won't that bring up a few awkward questions from your cousin?'

'Not if we don't let her see you. Just don't be seen going from the back garden to the front door, and I'll make sure I open the door all afternoon so we can have a talk in the porch if needed.'

'Ok.'

'Good, now shall I take my wand?'

'Well you really shouldn't use it whilst you're there.'

'I know but I think my dad likes the idea of an endless supply of beer coming from it!'

Harry laughed.

'Well if you do just don't let your cousin see it.'

'I'll take it but keep it in my jacket in the cloak room.'

'Sounds good, now will you just go!' he said, exasperated at her fussing.

'Are you trying to get rid of me?'

'No, you're just fussing when there's no need to.'

'Ok, I'll go. Just-'

'I'll let you know if we get a message.'

'And-'

'I'll be careful if I apparate to yours. Now _go_!'

'Fine! I'm going, have a good afternoon.'

'You too. Bye'

'Bye.'

She turned on the spot and apparated home.

She reappeared outside her house and behind the tree in the garden. The leaves were starting to fall from it and scattered the ground by her feet. She had a quick look to make sure the coast was clear and then walked up the stepping-stones to the house. She rang the front doorbell and her dad opened the door to her, giving her a hug as she crossed the threshold.

'Hi dad,' she said.

'Hello Hermione,' he said with a cautious smile.

Hermione frowned at her dad's expression.

'What's wrong dad?' she asked.

'Your mum mentioned you were having troubles but couldn't say what they were.'

Hermione looked at the floor as she walked through the hallway, trying to think what she could say to ease her dad's worrying. She took her jacket off and her dad automatically took it from her and hung it on the back of the chair.

'It's got my wand in, we'd better put it in the cloakroom so Aunty Christine and Uncle Tony don't see it.'

'Oh yes, that _would_ be interesting, but you still haven't told me what's going on.'

'I know. How long before everyone arrives?'

'About twenty minutes.'

'Is mum busy?'

'She's just peeling the veg.'

'Well, if I sort that out there'll be enough time to tell you what I can.'

She opened the cloakroom door and took her wand from her jacket. She walked through to the kitchen followed by her dad.

'Hi mum,' Hermione said.

'Hermione! I didn't hear the doorbell go!' Jan wiped the water off her hands and hugged Hermione.

'Want some help?' Hermione asked, gesturing to the vegetables with her wand.

'Oh well…I suppose so.'

Hermione waved her wand and bewitched the potato peeler to do the job on it's own. Jan and Charles stared at it before turning back to Hermione.

'So what were you going to tell us Hermione?' Charles prompted.

'Well…where do I start? Erm…well we've found out why Ron hasn't woken up yet.

'You have?' Jan asked. 'Why hasn't he?'

'Well he was hit by an everlasting sleep spell.'

'I take it the name says it all,' Charles said quietly. Hermione looked at him and nodded. 'Well, now you know what it was that hit him, can't you revive him with its…counter spell?'

'Actually we might be able to.'

'Well that's good isn't it?' Jan asked.

'Why only might?' Charles asked, ignoring Jan's last question.

Hermione sighed, 'there might be complications, factors involved that we can't control.'

'How have you found this out? I thought no one you knew, knew anything about what had happened to Ron.'

Hermione closed her eyes, how come her dad was asking all the hardest questions? And the ones she couldn't answer very well?

'They don't…someone…told us.'

'I don't like the way you said that Hermione. Who told you?'

She felt like a little girl again under his gaze, but she knew her dad was only looking out for her.

'I'm sorry dad, I really can't tell you that. We can't tell anyone that. If anyone found out he's still alive-' she broke off, she really hadn't meant to say that. Thankfully her dad hadn't picked up on it.

'Do you at least _know_ this person Hermione?'

'Yes dad of course I know him!'

'From school?'

Hermione nodded her head.

'Then why all the secrecy if he's a known wizard?'

'Dad…I wish I could tell you everything, I really do but unfortunately we still need this person to help us wake Ron up, and he's not exactly in favour with a lot of people at the minute. I won't risk waking Ron up on anything. I swear I will tell you everything when I can. I know you're worried about me but please trust my judgement on this. Harry, Ginny and me have discussed this and we're being careful, I promise.'

'You know we're only looking out for you Hermione, you're our only daughter after all; it's our right to. But, saying that, we do trust your judgement, you're an intelligent girl, just think everything through before you do _anything_.'

'I will dad, thanks for trusting me.'

Charles smiled and the doorbell rang.

'Oh that'll be them,' Jan said, hurrying out of the kitchen. Hermione started to push her wand up her sleeve but Charles coughed and glanced towards the sink.

'Oh! I'd forgotten all about that. That's one less thing for mum to do anyway.'

She waved her wand and then replaced it up her sleeve quickly before she saw her aunt, uncle and cousin. She would have to put it back in her jacket when she got the chance.

'Oh dad, Harry might arrive at some point, do you mind if I answer the door all afternoon? That way he doesn't have to be seen.'

Charles frowned, wondering why Harry would need to see Hermione but knew he wouldn't get any answers from his daughter.

'Ok, I'll let your mother know when she escapes.'

'Thanks dad,' she said with a smile.

The next moment Hermione's Aunty Christine had made her entrance into the kitchen.

'Charles! How good to see you! And Hermione's here too, how wonderful to see you all!'

Hermione smiled her well-practiced fake smile she had perfected when she got asked for photographs after the end of the war, as soon as her aunt had walked in the room.

'Christine, how are you? It's been far too long!'

Hermione looked at her dad and saw the slightly forced smile on his face, although no one else would notice, especially his sister-in-law.

When her aunt had finished hugging her dad, Hermione braced herself for what was coming next. It came in full force.

'Hermione! You look tired!'

Thanks, Hermione thought, always good to be told.

'You're obviously enjoying university life! Rachel's exactly the same, always exhausted from one thing or another.'

Hermione was pulled into a hug before she had chance to remember her wand was up her sleeve and she had limited movement in her right arm. She automatically tried to bend her arm but gasped when the tip of it was forced into the crook of her arm. Her aunt pulled back and looked at her.

'What is it dear?'

'Oh nothing, just a…recurring hockey injury,' she said holding her elbow, proud of herself for coming up with the lie so fast.

'You're as bad as Rachel! She couldn't play Netball for weeks because she injured her shoulder, the team struggled without her of course but they managed to carry on and find a replacement until she was fit to play again.'

Hermione said nothing but just smiled politely at her aunt. Christine turned and left the kitchen calling to Jan as she did so.

'I swear if I broke my leg she'd have Rachel break both of hers so she had a more spectacular injury!' she muttered to her dad.

'Hermione, that's a terrible thing to say! True though!'

Hermione laughed and so did Charles as they walked through to the lounge.

It was four o'clock and Ginny had just walked into the lounge. As she did so she thought she saw bright green flames in the fireplace die away. Harry was stood in front of where the flames had been, and was holding a letter in his hand.

'Who was that?' Ginny asked.

'It was your dad actually, from the Ministry.'

'What did he want?'

'He didn't have time to explain anything, just said he'd been asked to give me this.'

He held up the thick envelope.

'What-'

'I haven't opened it yet!'

'Oh.'

Harry broke the wax seal and took out the contents. On top was a scrawled note from Arthur. He started to read it and Ginny read over his shoulder.

_Harry,_

_Scrimgeour thought you would like to know this information but he asks if you could keep it between you, Hermione and Ginny._

_Arthur._

'Sounds ominous.' Ginny said.

Harry unfolded the rest of the parchment and skim read the report from the Auror office. What he read made his heart start beating far faster than was normal.

'Merlin above!' he said quietly. He looked at Ginny, 'this could be a problem.'

'You think?' she replied in a whisper.

'Will you-'

'I'll get the coin,' she replied before he had the chance to finish his sentence.

Harry flicked through the rest of the papers and the news only got worse. A few seconds later Ginny had returned with the coin.

'Has it changed?' he asked her.

'No, it's exactly how Hermione left it.'

'I never thought I'd say this, but I really wish he'd contact us.'

'You don't think he's been…caught do you?'

'Don't jump to conclusions Gin, and to be fair I think we'd know if he had.'

'Yeah I suppose so.'

'Let's sit down and read through this properly, there's no point in skimming through it and just catching the odd detail.'

They sat down on the sofa and pulled the coffee table towards them. Harry spread out the various papers across the table and picked up the first one to read.

Half an hour later and Harry and Ginny hadn't said a word to each other, both absorbed in the reports, maps and scribbled notes that they had been given.

When they had finished reading Ginny turned to Harry.

'_You_ can tell Hermione,' she said.

'Do I have to?' Harry asked.

'Imagine what she would do to you if you kept this from her.'

'Yeah I'll go and tell her. She's going to be hysterical.'

'Give her a bit more credit, she doesn't generally get hysterical unless there's a really good reason.'

'Thing is, I'd call this a really good reason.'

'I _knew_ things were going too well, I _knew_ something like this would happen.'

She fell silent and fear crept into her eyes at the thought she might be about to lose her brother. Harry pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head.

'It'll work out Gin; we'll make it work out. We'll get him back.'

'I hope so Harry, I miss him so much. I know he was a pain in the arse to me sometimes but it was only because he was trying to protect me. As much as I hated it sometimes, I loved him for it.'

'I know, I miss him too.'

They held each other for a minute more before Ginny pulled back.

'You need to speak to Hermione; I'll stay here in case anything else gets sent to us by feather or flame!

Harry smiled'

'Ok, I'll try not to be too long.'

'Take all the time Hermione needs, ok?'

'As long as you don't mind.'

'Not at all.'

She bent down and collected the papers together before sliding them neatly back in the envelope. Harry put it in his back pocket and did the same with the coin and his wand.

'See you later,' Ginny said, before she kissed him goodbye. 'Love you.'

'Love you too. Bye.'

Harry spun on the spot and apparated, and a few seconds later appeared behind the tree in Hermione's back garden. Sighing deeply, and checking there was no one looking, he stepped out from behind the tree, dreading the conversation he was about to have with his best friend.


	35. Chapter 35 Secrets Revealed

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Chapter 35

As soon as Hermione opened the door to Harry she knew something was wrong.

'What is it? What's wrong?' she asked him quickly and in a panicked voice.

'Can I come inside? There's something you need to see.'

'Erm, yeah of course.'

She closed the door behind him and gestured for Harry to go up the stairs to her room.

'I'll be up in a minute.'

She poked her head into the lounge and caught her dad's eye.

'Dad, can I have a word?' she mouthed at him across the room.

Charles stood and walked out of the room, glancing up the stairs when he got to the bottom. Harry smiled down at Charles, and Charles mirrored the action.

'Dad, can you tell everyone that I've gone to the shop for something Mum's run out of, or something? I've got to talk to Harry and I might be a while.'

'Ok Hermione, I will.'

'Thanks dad.'

'Thank you Mr. Granger, and I'm sorry for interrupting.'

'Charles please Harry, and don't worry about it.'

He turned and walked back into the lounge, Hermione hurried upstairs to join Harry in her bedroom.

'So what's going on?' she demanded of Harry.

'I er…I got this from Arthur; Scrimgeour thought I'd want to know about it. It involves…well…just read it.'

He held out the envelope and Hermione took it from him. She pulled out the papers and unfolded them. As she read the papers her eyes widened and she had to sit down on her bed before her legs went from beneath her.

'They nearly caught him!' she gasped, 'they duelled with him and they nearly caught him!'

'Apparently so,' Harry said quietly.

'Has he been in contact with us since you found this out?' she asked, her voice getting louder and more panicky.

'No…no he hasn't.'

He took the coin out of his jeans pocket and gave it to Hermione. She looked at it and saw the message she had last put on it. She looked quickly through the rest of the papers and she started to shake a little as the information reached her brain.

'Looks like they've been following him for a while. He obviously wasn't as good at hiding as he thought he was.'

She put the envelope and the collection of papers on her bed and stood up. She began pacing across the wooden floor.

'THE IDIOT! Why couldn't he have tried harder to keep himself hidden? Why _now_ of all times?'

'Hermione calm down! He hasn't been captured yet or the Ministry would have had it sprawled across every piece of parchment they could find and sent to every wizarding house in the country! He's still out there somewhere.'

'In what state though? The report says he was weakened before he managed to apparate, and you know how dangerous apparation can be if you're not strong enough to do it! He could be laying in a ditch somewhere half dead!'

'Hermione, I'll say it again, _clam down_! As much as it pains me to say it, he's a good and pretty powerful wizard, it'd take something more than a dodgy apparation to hurt him. If the Aurors got him with a curse it's more than likely he'll know the counter so he's probably just lying low for a bit.'

'But surely he must know we'd find out about this, he must know we'd be worri-…' she fell silent and looked at the floor, 'I can't believe I was about to say that I was worried about the ferret.'

Harry smiled, 'I know, I thought the same earlier, but if you think about it, we're not really worried about him; we're worried that he won't be able to help Ron.'

Hermione managed a half smile.

'Yeah, you tell yourself that if it makes you feel better!'

Harry laughed, 'I will do.'

'So what now?' she asked, her tone returning to serious.

'I don't think there's much we _can_ do. I mean, it's not as if we know where he is, to go and help him if that's what he needs. We can only really wait for him to contact us.'

'Oh this is _so frustrating_! I hate not being able to do anything; I've had enough of that for the past two months, and now after everything that's happened, to be in this situation…it's just so…'

'Frustrating?' Harry finished for her with a smile on his face.

She smiled, 'yeah.'

Hermione turned and started wandering aimlessly around her room.

'Hermione,'

'What?'

'Erm…look.'

She turned and followed Harry's gaze to her bed, the coin was glowing.

'Did it just glow?' she asked, wanting so badly to believe it had.

'Yep.'

Hermione walked towards her bed and looked at the coin, scared of what she was about to read on it. Slowly she picked it up and turned it so the message was the right way up. She looked at the words scrolling around the edge; apparently Malfoy's message was too long to fit around the circumference so he had made the sentences scroll around it. A twinge of annoyance filled her because she hadn't thought of the idea first. She silently scolded herself for letting something an insignificant as that bother her. She found the beginning of the message and read it.

HAD A RUN IN WITH AURORS, MANAGED TO ESCAPE BUT ONLY JUST. IN CAVE IN HOGSMEADE, RISKY BUT HAD NO CHOICE. HURT BADLY AND NEED HELP. PLEASE. PROTECTED CAVE TEMPORARILY, WILL ONLY LET POTTER AND YOU IN, BUT WON'T LAST LONG. COME QUICKLY. M.

'Oh God.'

'Let me read it.'

Harry took the coin from Hermione and read the message.

'He must be bad if he's asking for our help.'

'Harry we need to get to him, we can't wait any longer. Please.'

'Hermione I'm not going to argue, we'll apparate there as soon as we can.'

'But what if we can't help him?'

'If we can't do anything we'll take him back to ours and we'll see what Ginny can do.'

'She's only been Healing for two months Harry; chances are she won't be able to help him. What then?'

'We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Come on let's go, we shouldn't wait too long. We need to get to him.'

'Ok, I just need to tell my dad and then we'll apparate out of here.'

She turned and opened her bedroom door, and found Rachel stood in front of her, open mouthed, a shocked expression on her face. Hermione paled when she saw her, hoping against all hope that she hadn't heard anything. She knew she had though, by the look on her face.

'Do you want to tell me what on earth apparation, duelling and Aurors are?' she asked.

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She looked at Harry, silently asking him what she should do.

'She was bound to find out sooner or later. This way you don't have to pretend anymore,' he said as if Rachel wasn't standing in front of Hermione.

'Fine, we'll leave it to mum and dad, we really don't have time,' she turned to Rachel. 'Rachel, I'm afraid I don't have time to tell you anything, I have some urgent business to attend to, so I'll leave you with mum and dad and they can explain everything.'

Rachel was shocked initially that Hermione had been so forward about whatever it is she was about to tell her and hadn't denied anything, but she soon found her voice.

'Who do you need to find? Where are you going? Is it dangerous?'

'Exactly how long were you stood outside my bedroom door eavesdropping Rachel?' Hermione asked her cousin as she made her way down the stairs.

'Long enough to hear some pretty interesting things!'

'Forget the silencing charms Hermione? That's not like you!' Harry said, not caring if Rachel heard, she wouldn't be in the dark for much longer. Hermione scowled at him over her shoulder.

They entered the lounge and the four muggles stopped talking at their entrance.

'Mum, dad, we have a slight problem. Rachel overheard Harry and me talking about, well…you know what.'

Her mum and dad exchanged glances then looked at Hermione.

'Oh,' Charles said quietly.

'I think it'll be easier if we just explain everything, it'll stop me having to pretend I'm living a life I'm not for one thing, and for another, you can actually tell them what I've really been doing since I was twelve years old. It should make the afternoon's conversation interesting to say the least!'

'Are you sure Hermione?' her mum asked quietly, not knowing how this was going to go down with her brother-in-law and his wife.

'Yes mum, we'll make this slightly easier for you.' She turned to Harry. 'Harry, would you get my jacket out of the cloakroom please?'

'You mean-?'

'Yes I do.'

'Ok.'

Harry proceeded to summon Hermione's jacket to him with his wand. Christine, Tony and Rachel blinked several times as the item of clothing made its way completely unaided through the air to Hermione, who then took her wand out of the inside pocket of the jacket.

'Mum I'm really sorry, we really have to go home. That thing I was telling you about, well there's been some developments and we need to sort them out.'

'Can't you stay Hermione?' Jan asked, slightly panicked.

'I really can't mum, I'm sorry I'm leaving you with this to deal with but I can't stay here at the moment. You said you trusted my judgement; well, I _really_ have to go, I'm sorry. I'll tell you everything as soon as I can. I promise.'

She leant forward and kissed her mum goodbye. Her dad stood up and gave her a hug.

'Just be careful Hermione, that's all I ask.'

'I will dad.'

'I'll look after her Charles, I promise,' Harry added.

'Thank you Harry.'

'Well, we'd better leave Harry,' she said walking over to him. 'Aunty Christine, Uncle Tony, Rachel, I'm sorry I won't be here to explain everything that mum and dad are about to tell you. I swear the next time I see you I'll tell you all about being a witch.'

Her Aunt and Uncle stared at each other at the word 'witch'; Hermione was oblivious to the reactions. 'After three Harry?'

'Home? The invisibility cloak could be a good idea,' he said quietly.

'Yes, home. One – two – three.'

They both turned on the spot and vanished out of sight. Charles turned to Jan.

'She could at least have topped up my beer before she went.'


	36. Chapter 36 Healing Hands

**Well how nice am I to you lot:D**

**Step XxXxX ;)**

* * *

Chapter 36

Hermione and Harry were stood outside the entrance to the cave, nervously wondering what to do and how Malfoy's barrier would work. They had apparated home and quickly filled Ginny in on the developments of the last twenty minutes. She agreed to help Malfoy in any way she could and apparated home to collect a few potions that may help. She was hoping that she would be able to sneak into and out of her house without her mum and dad realising she had been there. Although she doubted this would be easy to do.

'Do you reckon we can just walk through it?' Harry asked Hermione.

They had lit their wands and the tips poked out from under the invisibility cloak, illuminating the space around them. They could only see a light sheen covering the entrance, not what was waiting for them inside the cave.

'There's only one way to find out I suppose. Come on; let's just walk through it.'

'Ok.'

Tentatively they stepped forwards and walked through the barely noticeable barrier. Hermione braced herself to feel a force or something, but she didn't feel a thing, and when she opened her eyes she saw the cave around her.

It took a while for her eyes to focus on the form of her once arch-enemy laying on the floor, shaking and whimpering almost silently, with blood dripping from slashes across his face, arms, legs and chest. He was led on his back but in a position that looked as though he had tried to get onto his side but had failed, because of the pain it caused. When she did realise this was what she was seeing, she dropped to the floor instantly, kneeling beside him.

Harry took off the cloak, which was now just covering him.

'Oh Merlin…Harry please tell me he's still alive.'

'He's still alive Hermione, look.'

He pointed at Malfoy's chest, which was rising and falling ever so slightly with his shallow and laboured breaths.

'I…didn't…know you…c…cared Granger!' Malfoy stammered, and promptly started to cough. Hermione noticed the blood that came up with his coughs.

'Can you stand?' Harry asked Malfoy in a very business like tone.

''Fraid not…Potter. This is as…b…best as I can do.'

'Fine, I'll carry you then. Hermione will you help me get him up?'

Harry knelt down on the other side of Malfoy and grabbed his arm to put around his neck.

'What do you th…think you're…doing Potter?' Malfoy asked, taking his arm out of Harry's grip.

'Well, I _was_ trying to get your sorry arse out of here but if you'd rather we leave you here to die then that can be arranged!'

Malfoy scowled, 'fine, it's not as if I,' he grimaced, '…h…have any other…option…is it?'

'No you don't,' Harry replied, 'so just be grateful of my help for once.'

Malfoy didn't reply, but he tried to be helpful when Hermione and Harry picked him up off the floor into Harry's arms.

In a swish of a cloak they had apparated out of the cave and into Harry and Hermione's lounge.

Ginny stood up as they arrived and her eye's widened as she looked over Malfoy's weakened form. Harry carefully laid him down on the sofa, and noticed the wince that crossed Malfoy's face as he did so.

Ginny stepped into helping mode instantly, as much as she had only been learning to Heal for a few months, she had seen her mother patch up her brothers many times before, and had learnt from her more than anyone else. She knelt next to the three-seater and took out her wand ready.

'What was he hit with?' she asked Harry.

'I don't know, we just found him and brought him here, we haven't asked him anything yet.

'You know...I _am_ here and capable of…s…speech, thank you,' Malfoy said. Apparently the fact that he was unable to move without causing himself a great deal of pain didn't stop him from being a proud wizard.

'Fine, what were you hit with?' she demanded of him.

'I thought it was sectumsempra, but it doesn't seem as bad…had the,' he coughed violently and Ginny automatically supported his head trying to keep it steady, 's…same…sort of effect though.'

A couple more drips of blood fell from the corner of his mouth onto the sofa.

'What else?' Ginny asked, a bit more politely than she had the last time.

'No other spells, but one of your A…Aurors decided to use me as a,' he closed his eyes and looked as though the words he was about to say would cause him more pain than his injuries, 'a human punch bag.'

'Fine, I should be able to help you, that is if you let me. Will you?'

He looked at her, and Ginny knew he didn't want to say yes.

But before he had chance to say anything his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his head fell forward.

'_Malfoy_?' Ginny said, panicking slightly.

'What is it?' Hermione said, her tone the same as Ginny's.

'He's passed out I think,' Ginny checked for a pulse in his neck, 'yes, he's still with us, just out cold.'

'Well that might make fixing him a bit easier!' Harry mumbled.

'Can you really help him Ginny?' Hermione asked.

'Yeah, you two should be able to help as well. The cuts aren't very deep but there are a lot of them and he's lost a lot of blood, probably why he fainted. Good thing I brought a blood-replenishing potion from home. Of course, while he's passed out we can't do much about that. I'm guessing from of the amount of pain he seems to be in that he's got a few broken bones too.'

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. Apart from the fact that he was unconscious he didn't seem to be in that bad a state.

'Look if you two want to clean yourselves up a bit I can sort him out.'

Harry and Hermione looked at themselves and each other and saw Malfoy's blood smeared across their clothes and their hands.

'Thanks Gin, I'll be back in a minute.'

Harry left the room and went up the stairs to sort himself out.

Hermione stood still for a few seconds and looked at Malfoy. He was thin and pale, apart from the bloodstains across his skin. She felt sorry for the wizard, although there was something in her brain telling her this was the last thing she should be feeling. As long as he was alive and able to help them tomorrow then why should she care what state he was in? She did care though, and that worried her a bit.

When they were at school, she longed for nothing more than for someone to give Malfoy a good kicking for all the pain and hurt he caused not only herself and her friends, but also the other people he bullied on a regular basis. But seeing him now she felt different. It was true she didn't know what he had been doing or whether his behaviour had warranted the attack on him, but she had a feeling he hadn't been doing anything, and the Auror who did this to him was purely following orders and trying to bring him into the Ministry.

The truth was, if it had been a few weeks ago and she had watched the attack on the wizard led before her, she would have watched and not done a thing to stop it. Like every other person who had lost friends and family in the war she'd have felt he deserved everything he got. But things were different now, he'd changed, he'd proven that.

'Hermione, go and change will you? He's in safe hands and I've already taken his wand off him so I'll be fine too, now _go_!'

Hermione smiled and left the room. When she got to the top of the stairs she found Harry standing with his wand arm outstretched, his eyes closed and a look of deep concentration on his face. Not wanting to disturb him she waited until he had finished performing whatever piece of magic he was doing before she said anything.

'Anti-apparation wards per chance?' she said quietly.

'Yeah, don't get angry at me, I just think it's better that no one can get in or leave until tomorrow morning.'

'I'm not going to get angry, it's a good idea, this way we know where he is and that no one can get at him. It'll also make getting him to the hospital easier as well.'

'Yeah it does.'

'I never thanked you before Harry.'

'What for.'

'For not questioning helping him, and for suggesting bringing him back here. I know you hated the idea of him being here.'

'There's no need to thank me; I'm doing what I told you to do and looking at the bigger picture. We need Ron and Ron needs him. I've missed him a lot these last few days, I mean I've always missed him, but these last few days I've missed his stupid comments that make you smile no matter what's happened, and I've missed…I've just missed…him.'

He looked at the floor and sniffed, his gaze shifted to the ceiling and he willed the tears that were forming in his eyes to not fall.

Hermione walked up to Harry and turned him so he was facing her. He refused to look at her so she pulled on his fringe forcing his head downwards so he had to look at her. Eventually he did.

'Harry, we don't know what's going to happen, but something you said to me when I hid myself away in the attic stuck with me. You reminded me that there was still a chance that everything would go to plan and we would be able to wake Ron up. I've kept a tight hold onto that thought every time I think about the worst. So I'm asking you to do it too. As of five past eleven tomorrow he could be awake and talking to us and making us laugh with his stupid comments, just remember that Harry.'

Harry smiled, 'I will do.' He had somehow managed to keep his tears from falling. I wish I could do that! Hermione thought to herself.

'Now we'd better get clean, I'm not one to know about high fashion, but I think it's safe to say various blood smears is not a good look.'

Harry laughed, 'no I don't reckon so. I'll be downstairs in a couple of minutes, ok?'

'Ok.'

Hermione walked past Harry into her own room and she arrived in the lounge changed and cleaned up a few minutes later.

Ginny had managed to heal the cuts on Malfoy's face and was working on the ones on his arms. She had performed a spell on him that showed the one performing it which bones were broken in the body they were examining. Malfoy had four broken ribs, a broken ankle and a cracked bone in his right wrist.

'Is he still unconscious?' Hermione asked quietly.

'Yeah he is. It's making my job easier actually, he can't complain or insult me whilst I do it.'

'Thanks for doing this Gin.'

'It's for my brother, not for Malfoy.'

'I know, still…thanks.'

Ginny rolled up Malfoy's left sleeve to fix a particularly deep cut that was wrapped round his forearm. She stopped when she saw the trace of his Dark Mark on his arm.

'You know, I don't think I ever thought I'd be happy to see a Dark Mark this close up. Especially now it looks like that.'

Hermione moved and knelt next to Ginny on the floor.

'Do you think it disappeared as soon as he died? I know it's still there, I mean, it looks like the scars that evil quill left on Harry's hand, but do you think it lost it's colour instantly?'

'I have no idea; it would make sense if it did. Apparently all the Death Eaters who were still fighting pretty much disappeared at the same time, so they might have felt it burn or something.'

'Yeah I suppose.'

Ginny waved her wand over the cut and the skin started to slowly come together. Malfoy stirred but didn't open his eyes.

'I'll start on his ankle, do you want to do his wrist? One of the bones is cracked.'

Ginny got up and moved around Hermione. She sat on the end of the sofa and took Malfoy's boot off. She straightened his ankle out, causing him to stir again, but he didn't wake up, and she pointed her wand at the bone and said 'Episkey'.

Hermione did the same with his wrist.

'Why do you think he's coughing up blood?' Hermione asked, not really wanting to find out the answer.

'It could be a number of things, it could be as simple as he's bitten his tongue or his cheek and it's bleeding inside his mouth, or his broken ribs might have punctured his lung.'

'How do you fix that?' Hermione asked barely able to keep the panic out of her voice.

'Carefully,' Ginny replied.

Hermione tried to smile but didn't quite pull it off; she looked like she was in pain.

'I'll fix it Hermione, don't worry.'

'Before tomorrow?' Hermione asked.

'Yes, but it's up to Malfoy whether he feels strong enough to be able to go to the hospital tomorrow.'

'Yeah…yeah I suppose.'

This is why you don't get your hopes up for something Hermione, _anything_ could happen, she said to herself, getting angry for letting herself think that tomorrow could be the end of it all.

'Don't worry your…bushy little head Granger; I'll be able to help the…Weasel. Oww!'

'Oops! Sorry Malfoy, my hand slipped!'

When Malfoy had said the word 'Weasel' Ginny had twisted his newly mended ankle as she put his boot back on, causing the pain that made Malfoy cry out.

He scowled at her but held his tongue realising insulting anyone Ginny cared for, or Ginny herself, would not be in his best interests.

Hermione had chosen to ignore the slight altercation between Ginny and Malfoy.

'Are you sure you'll be all right to do it Malfoy? I mean, you're not exactly in a good way are you? It might make you worse if you have to perform magic.'

'Malfoy smirked, 'well thank you for your concern Granger…but I'll be fine.'

'I hate to remind you Malfoy,' Ginny said, 'but Hermione is more concerned that you won't be able to perform the magic needed to revive my brother properly, and not about your welfare.'

Malfoy looked at Ginny and then Hermione, as if wondering whether to be offended, but after a second he smirked.

'Then you still needn't worry, I'm perfectly able to perform magic.'

'Properly?' Hermione demanded.

'Yes Granger, _properly_!' He coughed at the end of his answer, although this time he didn't cough up any blood.

'You need to take this,' Ginny said picking up one of the potion bottles and holding out for Malfoy to take.

'What is it?' he mumbled.

'It's a blood-replenishing potion, you've lost too much for you to have any strength so I suggest you take it.'

'How can I be sure it's not poisoned?'

Hermione sighed, Ginny however, smirked.

'Believe me Malfoy, the thought of finishing you off or handing you into the Ministry did cross my mind, as the ten thousand galleon reward was _very_ tempting. However, fortunately for you, getting my brother back to the land of living is more important to me than _any_ reward. So take the bloody potion and _be thankful for it_!'

'Fine,' Malfoy said, 'give me the bottle.'

'_Please_!' Ginny said, holding it just out of Malfoy's reach.

Malfoy sighed loudly, 'Merlin above! _Please_!'

Ginny handed him the bottle and he drank it in one go.

Hermione realised Harry hadn't returned to the lounge as he said he would.

'Gin, will you go and find Harry please, I think he's in his room.'

Ginny stood up and looked at Hermione, puzzled.

'He er…I think he's a bit upset,' she said quietly so Malfoy couldn't hear. 'Just make sure he's all right will you?'

Ginny nodded her head and left the lounge, leaving Hermione and Malfoy alone.

'Of all the things I've been through, I think this has to be the worst,' Malfoy said.

'Does it still hurt?' Hermione asked him.

Malfoy laughed, but stopped when the pain hit him.

'I'm not talking about this,' he waved his hand over himself, indicating the numerous injuries he had acquired, 'I'm talking about this, being in Potter's living room, and in need of help from him, you and the Weasel's baby sister.'

Hermione rolled her eyes at him.

'Well, I can see you're feeling better already, seeing as though you are, we can discuss tomorrow and what we're going to do. Ok?'

It was a rhetorical question, and Malfoy knew it.

'Fine, what do you want me to do?'


	37. Chapter 37 Dreams Realised?

Chapter 37

It had possibly been one of the worst nights sleep Hermione Granger had ever had. Had this been an ordinary day she would be waking up and getting ready for a day at work, it was, after all Monday morning and she was due at the Ministry of Magic at nine o'clock. However today was no ordinary day.

Last night Harry had written a brief note to Kingsley Shacklebolt telling him that Hermione and himself had been struck down by a bout of food poisoning, which had apparently come from the muggle pizza place down the road. Hermione had felt this was a reasonable excuse and one that wouldn't warrant any further investigation into its genuineness by their tutors.

One of the reasons why she didn't sleep was the fact that Draco Malfoy had used their sofa as a bed for the night, something she wouldn't even contemplate in her wildest dreams ever happening. But happen it did, and as much as she didn't think he would desert them, there was always the possibility he would, something she didn't want to think about.

It was apparent however, that he had decided to stay true to his word when they were stood outside St. Mungo's hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries at five to eleven, about to enter the building. Malfoy was under Harry's invisibility cloak although he had had trouble putting it on, his injuries not quite healed from the previous days run in with an Auror. Ginny's Healing and potions had done their job, and Malfoy had felt well enough to come to the hospital and try and revive Ron with Harry and Hermione.

'Ready Malfoy?' Harry asked the space between himself and Hermione.

'Yes Potter, I am.'

'Good, now don't faint or anything because we won't be able to see you if you do, and I don't want you being discovered by someone tripping over your invisible fallen body all right?'

'Yes, _thank you_ Potter, I don't intend on fainting so there's no need to worry yourself.'

'Please can we just go in?' Hermione asked.

'Yes, after you Hermione. Malfoy, follow her and I'll be right behind you.'

Hermione spoke quietly to the dummy in the window and she nodded her head a fraction like Hermione had seen her do hundreds of times.

When they stepped through the glass they were shocked to see a lot of trainee Healers dawdling around the reception area. Apparently the organisation of their ward visits had gone to pot and they were delayed. Ginny was nowhere to be seen. She had asked to visit Ron's ward today and had been granted her request. The fact that she wasn't stood waiting in reception was a good indication that her group was already upstairs in the ward.

'Straight upstairs,' Harry mumbled so Malfoy could hear him.

'Fine,' Malfoy replied. It was one of the conditions of giving Malfoy his invisibility cloak that Harry had insisted on; Malfoy had to reply to everything Harry said so he had a fair idea of where Malfoy was in his invisible state. It wasn't perfect, but only the Imperius curse could ensure Malfoy would go where he was told, and Harry refused to use such drastic, and illegal, measures.

Hermione made her way through the crowd of trainee Healers carefully, and miraculously, so did Malfoy, not that Harry could see him; but none of the people around them seemed to be bumped into by an unseen force. Harry followed Hermione up the stairs where, thankfully, there were less people.

Hermione stopped outside the double doors to the ward where Ron lay. She peered in through the window and looked into the ward. There was a group of five trainee Healers, Ginny instantly recognisable from the back by her long red hair, following a Healer in a white coat down the ward. She looked around the rest of the ward and spotted Healer Thompson looking at a chart at the foot of the bed closest to the door on the right hand side.

'I'll go and talk to him. I'll be back in a minute.'

She slipped through the doors and walked the few steps to Healer Thompson.

'Healer Thompson, I'm sorry to disturb you.'

'Hermione, what are you doing here?'

'Well, I was wondering if you would let me see Ron for a few minutes,' she could see Healer Thompson was about to protest so carried on before he had the chance. 'I know, it's early for visitors but me and Harry can't make it this afternoon and we really need to see him today. You see…I know it sounds silly but today is the anniversary of the day that the three of us became really good friends and it's a special day for all three of us. It wouldn't feel right if we didn't get to see him.'

She looked at the floor and willed herself to look upset and for once was actually willing herself to cry. Healer Thompson looked at her and Hermione could see his initial argument was being forgotten.

'Are you sure you can't see him this afternoon?'

'No, we can't, we have to be to at Auror training all afternoon and most of the evening, all of the trainee Aurors do. I know it's asking a lot but it would mean so much to me and Harry if you could let us have a few minutes with him.'

Hermione knew she had got her way when Healer Thompson smiled at her.

'Of course Hermione, go ahead.'

'Thank you. You don't mind if we close the curtains around his bed do you?'

'No, I don't mind at all, I'll make sure our visiting party don't disturb you either.'

'Thank you very much Healer Thompson.'

She turned and smiled at Harry through the glass. Harry pushed on the door and felt his invisibility cloak brush past his arm as Malfoy moved through the door. The three of them walked up the ward and to Ron's bedside. Ginny gave Hermione and Harry a quick half smile as they walked past her, and continued to pretend to listen to what she was being told. In truth she hadn't taken in a word of what had been said to her since she had set foot in the ward.

When the curtains had been closed Hermione moved to the right hand side of Ron's bed and Harry and Malfoy moved to the left side. Malfoy had made himself visible to the world by removing the cloak and laid it down at the foot of the bed. He lowered his hood and took out his wand. Hermione took a shaky breath and did the same, although it was Ron's wand that she was holding, not her own. Malfoy had told them that his wand core was Dragon Heartstring so Ginny had Flooed home to retrieve Ron's wand, once Harry had reconnected the fireplace to the Floo network – another precaution he took when it was obvious Malfoy would be staying the night.

Eventually Harry did the same and removed his wand from his cloak but instinctively aimed it at Malfoy.

'There'll be no need for _that_ Potter. As much as I don't really care if the Weasel wakes up again, I'm not going to go back on my word, and besides, I can't afford to either. I thought you'd started to trust me?' he said bitterly.

'_Started_ being the operative word Malfoy,' he replied, but still pointed his wand at the floor.

'Are we going to get on with this then?' Malfoy asked irritably.

'It was definitely _this_ spell he was hit with, wasn't it Malfoy? You are _sure_?'

'How many times do I have to tell you Grange? _Yes_, he was definitely hit with the endless sleep spell and considering I'm here, this _should_ work.'

'Fine!' Hermione spat.

'Just concentrate on your spell, that's all. After three?' Malfoy asked.

Harry and Hermione nodded and placed their wand tips above Ron's heart like Malfoy had told them to. Malfoy did the same so all three wand tips touched. Hermione sighed deeply, hoping against all hope this would wake Ron up. Hoping against all hope that this one act would end her nightmare.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on the two words she had to say. From what seemed like a long way away she heard Malfoy count out loud.

'One – Two – Three.'

'_Pretiritus Memor_,' she said and she heard Harry and Malfoy say their spells too.

She felt the wand in her hand grow warm and she opened her eyes. The wand tip was glowing a bright white, Harry's a deep red and Malfoy's a striking green. Ron's wand grew hot, levelling out in temperature before it started to hurt her hand. Suddenly the colours vanished and her wand grew cold.

'That's it,' Malfoy said quietly, 'it's done.'

Hermione perched on the side of the bed and put her hand on Ron's cheek, stroking it with her thumb.

'Ron,' she said in barely a whisper, she cleared her throat, 'Ron, can you hear me?'

Nothing happened. She felt like her heart was breaking. No, she thought, this can't be happening, he _has_ to wake up.

'Please Ron, open your eyes for me,' she said, her voice shaking as she did so.

'There's no point in redoing the spell, if it didn't work the first time then…' Malfoy paused, not wanting to state the obvious. As much as he hated to admit it, half of him was hoping that Ron would wake up; he suppressed this thought however, and became his usual arrogant self. 'Well, as heart wrenching as this is, I think I'll take my leave. Potter, we have things to discuss.'

Harry snapped out of his thoughts. He had been watching Hermione; his heart sank when he saw her shoulders drop and her head fall when she got no response from Ron. He knew what this meant; they had just run out of options. Somehow he was ignoring the pain that was creeping into his chest as he watched Hermione and his lifeless best friend.

'Fine!' he snapped, 'Hermione, I'll be back in a few minutes.'

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Malfoy cover himself with the invisibility cloak and then Harry leave the cubicle.

She leant forward and kissed Ron, straightening his fringe when she pulled back. Sighing, she slid off the bed and onto the chair next to the bed. Tears filled her eyes. She had begged herself not to get her hopes up about the spells working, but she had. It just seemed like it would, it was the most logical thing to happen. She felt numb; her mind was refusing to believe that this was it, that this was the last chance they had.

She perched her chin on the bed and held Ron's hand in hers. She stroked the back of it and closed her eyes; one solitary tear escaped from her eye and made it's way down her cheek.

'_What will it take Ron_?' she asked, 'I'll do _anything_ to help you, but I don't know what else I can do,' her voice broke and another tear escaped her eye.

She squeezed Ron's hand. With her eyes still closed she heard shuffling; she guessed it was from the group outside the cubicle. She felt waves of sleep pass over her and didn't resist it.

She imagined what she would be doing if he had woken up. She would be holding him and not letting go.

'Hermione wake up.'

No, I'm sleeping, she thought. She heard someone chuckling.

'Come on Hermione wake up, I need to talk to you.'

'What about?' she mumbled.

'Well I'd like a couple of questions answered if you don't mind.'

She snapped her eyes open. Her head was facing the opposite direction she remembered it being in before she closed her eyes. She sat up and yawned, stretching her arms to the ceiling as she did so, her eyes still closed, trying to clear her head. Hermione, she thought, you _need_ to stop falling asleep at the hospital, you know you have weird dreams when you do!'

'That's more like it.'

She opened her eyes and turned her head towards where she thought the noise was coming from. What awaited her eyes when they found the source of the words was something she had been imagining for weeks on end: Ron with his head raised off his pillows and his eyes looking directly into hers. She felt like all the air had been sucked out of her lungs.

She took a deep breath but didn't move her eyes off him. She watched as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

'Hermione please say something.'

Eventually she found her voice.

'I must be dreaming,' she whispered.

'Well if you are, then I am too. How about we check.'

He reached over and took her hand in his. She started to tingle where his hand touched hers.

'Ron, is that really you?'

'Is it really you Hermione?'

He pulled her towards him and she stood up, moving so she could sit next to him on the bed.

'I think it's me. I'm not sure if I believe I'm awake though.'

'Come here.'

Ron pulled her into a hug, a hug like she remembered, strong and comforting. She wrapped her arms around him, frightened of letting go. She started to cry again, he felt her shaking in his arms.

'Why are you crying Hermione? I don't want you to be upset.'

'I'm…I'm afraid if I let go I'll wake up and this will all have been a dream. I can't let go of you Ron, I can't. I love you too much.'

'Hermione, I love you too. You have to trust me; I've been having a lot of dreams and none of them felt like this. This is real. I promise if you let go things will be exactly the same, I promise.'

He loosened his hold on her, instinctively she tightened hers, but a few seconds later she let her arms relax a little and slowly she pulled back from him. She looked into his eyes and she saw them sparkle.

'You see, I told you it would be ok.'

When realisation that her dreams had come true hit her, Hermione smiled a beaming smile that Ron mirrored. She started to laugh and cry at the same time. The frustration and anger that had been living in her for weeks and weeks was leaving her, she could feel it, and she was being flooded with relief, and a happiness beyond all measure.

She hugged him again, her tears falling onto his shoulder.

'Hermione,' Ron said quietly, but with a trace of fear filling his voice.

She pulled back trying to control her breathing better than she was.

'Please, I need to know what happened that night…I thought, I thought you were dead when I found you. But you're here. What happened to everyone else? My family? Harry? What happened?'

She saw the look of panic cross his face.

'Calm down Ron. Every single one of your family survived, we don't know how they got that lucky, but they did.'

'Everyone's alive?' Ron asked, disbelievingly.

'_All _the Weasleys, you were the only one who got seriously hurt, and now,' her voice broke, 'and now you're awake. I can't believe it!' she finished in a whisper.

'Neither can I! What about Harry, Hermione? Please don't tell me You-Know-Who killed him, _please_.'

'Harry's fine,' a voice said from the corner of the cubicle. Harry stepped up to the bed, closing the curtain as he did so. He turned to look at Hermione.

'Hermione, do my eyes deceive me or is my lazy arse of a best mate sat up and talking?'

'Hey!' Ron exclaimed, a smile sliding across his face.

Hermione laughed through a fresh wave of tears.

'Yes Harry, he is!'

Harry turned to look at Ron and then walked over to the top of the bed and pulled Ron into a hug, in which the two of them slapped each other on the back. When they pulled apart, Hermione glimpsed tears in Harry's eyes. He blinked too quickly though, and managed to get rid of them before she could have a proper look.

'About bloody time and all!' Harry said grinning.

Ron's smile faltered, 'Why? How long have I been in here? What date is it?'

'It's the twelfth of September, and it's been about two months,' Harry replied.

Ron whitened slightly as the information sank in.

'Bloody hell! What have I missed?'

'We can fill you in later. You need to be checked over by a Healer first, just to make sure there was no lasting damage from the everlasting sleep spell.' Harry said sensibly.

'Oh Merlin! I totally forgot about that!' Hermione exclaimed as she stood up, 'that should have been the first thing I did! I'll go and get Healer Thompson!' She hurried out of the cubicle.

'Harry, seriously, you _have_ to tell me what I've missed,' Ron pleaded to his best friend.

'Ron I swear I will tell you _everything_ after you've been checked over and after we've told your family you're awake. They _need_ to know.'

Ron looked down at his quilt.

'Yeah, ok then. But you promise you'll tell me _everything_ that's been going on?'

'Every last detail.'

'But wait! Just answer me one thing Harry.'

'What's that mate?'

'He is gone isn't he…V…V…Voldemort _is_ dead.'

Harry smiled, acknowledging Ron's first use of the name.

'Yes Ron, he's definitely dead, we won!'

Ron smiled.

'Good,' he replied, 'I'm glad about that.'

* * *

**Hope you like the way he woke up peeps! I enjoyed writing it ;D**

**Picking up on what WheezlyGirl said in her review, (ta!) I didn't specifically use 11th September as the date he woke up. As it is I've changed it to be acurate to their birthdays and the timeline, the date he actually woke up was 12th September 1999, the 11th was the Sunday and he woke up on the Monday after, so it was actually a timing mistake on my part more than anything. I hope I didn't offend anyone, or come across as insensitive for using it, sorry if I did. :S**

**If ever there was a time that would make me very happyif youreviewed it would be now :D**

**Cheers**

**Step XxXxX ;)**


	38. Chapter 38 Breaking News

**Hey peeps, no the story isn't finished, obviously cos this is a new chapter. I won't finish it too fast, there's some issues to resolve, namely Malfoy, and Ron adapting to his new freedom. It would have been up sooner but ff was palying silly buggers last night so it wasn't my fault!**

**Let me know what you think ;)**

**Step XxXxX ;)**

* * *

Chapter 38

The two times that Harry had walked through the ward after they had performed the spells on Ron, he had purposefully not tried to find Ginny, so he didn't have to meet her eye.

As it was, Ginny had only noticed the curtains ripple once when Harry moved back through them after seeing Malfoy out of the hospital. Her heart sank as the minutes went on with no news from Harry or Hermione. Surely they should know by now? She thought desperately to herself, as she was ushered through the double doors and out of the ward.

As Hermione hurried out of Ron's cubicle she noticed Ginny's red hair disappear through the double doors and completely forgot about seeing Healer Thompson.

'Ginny!' she shouted as the doors swung shut. She started running through the ward. Healer Thompson looked up from his paperwork and looked startled as he saw Hermione running towards him. As she reached him he stepped towards her path.

'Miss Granger, please! Do not run through the ward!'

She ignored his pleas and pushed through the double doors.

'GINNY!' she shouted at the group of trainee Healers descending the stairs.

Ginny whipped her head round and stared at Hermione, eyes wide. Hermione beamed at her. A second later Ginny was running back up the stairs and through the ward to her brother's cubicle. Hermione followed her and before Healer Thompson had chance to chastise her again she shouted, 'he's awake' back over her shoulder.

Hermione carried on after Ginny and saw her wrench back the curtains and throw herself on to her brother.

Ron looked shocked for a second and then hugged his sister, smiling. Hermione saw her start to shake like she had done earlier.

'Calm down Ginny,' Ron said to her.

She pulled back from him.

'Don't you t…tell me to c…calm down, you lazy git!' she said half laughing, half crying.

Ron tried to look offended but smiled when he saw his sister smile at him.

'Don't you ever leave us again ok?' Ginny asked.

'Ok.'

'Promise?'

'I promise Gin.'

'Oh my goodness!' Healer Thompson said from the foot end of the bed, having just come into the cubicle. 'Mr. Weasley! How are you feeling?'

Ginny moved back from Ron and let the Healer walk up to the top of the bed.

'Erm…ok I suppose, I don't know really,' Ron replied quietly, not really knowing how he felt, he was just trying to take everything in.

'Would you three mind leaving me with Mr. Weasley so I can give him a check over please.'

'Of course we will,' Harry replied.

Ron's eyes widened.

'No! I mean, can't they stay?'

Hermione perched on the bed next to Ron.

'It'll only take a few minutes, won't it Healer Thompson?' she asked.

'Yes, a few minutes at the most.'

'We'll be back before you know it. And anyway we have some important news to tell a few people,' she added with a smile.

Ron smiled a small smile.

'Just don't be too long. I want to talk to you, I _need_ to talk to you.'

'I promise,' she leant forward and kissed his forehead, 'I want and need to talk to you too.'

He pulled her into a hug and happiness radiated from the both of them. Hermione thought her heart might burst with happiness, she would have given anything to not have to move from where she was now. But she pulled back, knowing that if she had held on for a second longer she wouldn't have moved until someone physically took her from Ron's arms.

'I love you,' she whispered.

'I love you too,' Ron replied.

She smiled at him and slid off the bed. Ginny stepped up to Ron and gave him a hug.

'We'll see you soon,' she said.

'Really soon,' he replied.

'See you in a bit mate!' Harry said, pulling the curtain back so they could all exit the cubicle.

'See you Harry.'

Hermione, Harry and Ginny left the cubicle and walked to the double doors at the end of the ward.

'So who's telling who? Harry asked as they walked through the door.

'Harry, why don't you go to the Ministry and tell Dad, I'll go to Hogsmeade and tell Fred and George, and you can go home and tell mum, Hermione.'

'Oh, no Ginny, you should be the one to tell Molly. He's your brother and she's your mum!'

'Hermione if I go home, mum'll just set me off crying and neither of us'll be able to stop!'

'What makes you think I'll be any better?' she asked, tears trying to form in her eyes. 'See, I'm only thinking about it and I'm already nearly in tears!' she sniffed and wiped her eyes.

'Don't you're setting me off again!' Ginny replied smiling. 'Seriously Hermione, you should do it. I want to get some things for Ron from Hogsmeade anyway, and Fred and George will be able to help me with them.'

'Well, only if you're sure.'

'I am, come on, lets go.'

Hermione started to walk down the stairs and Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and led her the same way.

'Oh!' Ginny exclaimed as they were approaching the double doors to level two. 'On a completely different subject, I found out how you two were able to apparate into the hospital on Friday.'

'Was it only Friday? Merlin that seems like weeks ago!' Hermione said.

'You mean to say it wasn't our fantastically huge amount of magical power that got us through the wards?' Harry said grinning.

'No, I'm afraid it wasn't,' Ginny replied smiling, 'There _are_ anti-apparation wards on the wards, wow, that's confusing…anyway, they _are_ there at night but they're not very strong. It's in case of emergencies apparently; if Healers are needed and have been contacted at home or wherever, then it's faster if they can just apparate into the ward. Any normal witch or wizard would feel them and let themselves be pushed to the entrance outside, but apparently that was _far_ too easy for you two.'

'Of course it was!' Harry said laughing.

They finished descending the stairs and left the hospital, Ginny ignoring the looks she was getting from her tutors and the other trainee Healers that were _still_ waiting in reception. Once they were outside the three of them turned on the spot and apparated to their various destinations.

Hermione arrived in the yard outside the Burrow and looked at her surroundings. There was a breeze in the air and clouds filled every piece of the sky she could see. She watched the ever-moving clouds and took a deep breath stretching her arms out to the side of her. She couldn't remember ever feeling so happy. A huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders and she felt like she had been given a second chance.

She walked through the yard and when she reached the door knocked on the wood.

'Who is it?' Molly asked from the other side of the door.

'It's Hermione, Molly. Can I come in?'

She heard the clunk of the locks being drawn back and the door swung away from her.

'Hermione? What are you doing here, shouldn't you be at the Ministry? There's nothing wrong is there?' Hermione was about to open her mouth and tell Molly there was nothing wrong but she didn't quite get the chance. 'Is it Ginny or Harry, or someone else?'

'Molly, it's no one, everyone's fine, better than fine in fact. Can I come in.'

'Of course dear, I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me.'

'That's ok,' Hermione said as she stepped through the door.

'Can I get you anything. Tea? Pumpkin Juice?'

'No Molly I'm fine, can we sit down for a minute?'

Hermione was dying to tell Molly her news but she didn't think telling her whilst she was stood up or holding anything in her hands was such a good idea.

'Yes dear, please take a seat.'

Molly sat in one chair on one of the long sides of the table and Hermione chose the one next to her.

'So what is it dear?' Molly asked.

'Well I have a message to give you from someone.'

'Who?'

'Well he's quite tall, got a lot of freckles – especially on his nose – and bright red hair, and he's been in St. Mungo's for a long time now.' Hermione looked at her lap, knowing she would start crying if she looked at Molly. 'He wanted me to tell you to please bring him 'Quidditch Through the Ages' for him to read when you next visit.'

Hermione slowly lifted her head and looked at Molly. Tears had formed in her eyes but she had yet to say anything.

'He's awake?' Molly whispered, barely able to make her mouth form the words. 'He's woken up? My baby boy's awake?'

'Yes he is,' Hermione replied, beaming at Molly.

'Oh!' Molly cried, her tears spilling down her face. She stood up and pulled Hermione into a hug. Hermione could hardly breathe but she didn't care one bit. She couldn't help but cry, Molly was sobbing into her shoulder and it took all her resolve to not fall apart in the same way.

After what felt like hours but was only a minute Molly pulled away from Hermione.

'We've g…got to get to S…St. Mungo's, right away!'

'I'd say that was a good idea!'

'Just let me put my shoes on, and find my cloak.'

'Do you mind if I get him a few things from his room? Just for a bit of home comfort, you know,' Hermione asked whilst Molly was rushing around trying to find her other shoe, it having been separated from it's pair.

'No not at all dear.'

Hermione walked through the house and up the stairs to the top floor and to Ron's bedroom. She walked into the room and smiled. It was spotless; nothing like Ron would have it. She opened his wardrobe and took out his largest Christmas jumper with his initial on the front. She looked through the clothes for the top she had bought him for his eighteenth birthday. Granted turning eighteen wasn't a huge thing in the wizarding world, having already come of age one year previously, but Hermione still wanted to buy him something special. It was a Replica of the top the Cannon's wore under their robes when they played, and she had had 'Weasley' and the number one stitched into the back. Ron had loved it and wore it with pride; joking with everyone it was only a matter of time before the shirt would be real.

When she found the top she closed the wardrobe and walked over to Ron's bedside table. Remembering she still had Ron's wand she rummaged in her robes and replaced the wand in its rightful place. She had a slight panic when she realised they had yet to decide what they would tell everyone about Ron's awakening, but realised she could hardly do anything about it at the present time.

She picked up the one and only book on Ron's bedside table and smiled. She had made up Ron's apparent request to Molly so she had a less abrupt way of telling Molly what had happened, but still she thought Ron would appreciate the gesture.

When she arrived at the bottom of the stairs Molly was frantically searching for her wand. Hermione had to laugh; it was sat in plain view in the middle of the kitchen table.

'Why I have to lose it now of all times I don't know.'

'Er…Molly, your wand is on the table,' Hermione said.

Molly turned and looked at the table, then hurried over to the table. Before pocketing the wand she gave it a few flicks and Hermione heard doors lock and windows shut themselves.

'Ready?'

When they arrived in the ward Molly mirrored Ginny's previous actions and ran through the ward to Ron's bed, causing Healer Thompson to scowl, but he restrained himself and didn't say anything. Harry and Arthur were already there and when Molly wrapped Ron in a hug it was a good few minutes before she let him go. There was a happy aura filling the room and it was filled with laughter when the twins arrived with Ginny and a large variety of gifts from the joke shop, and of course a large bag of chocolate frogs.

After a few minutes Healer Thompson came in and reminded the party that visitors were supposed to be limited to four, he thought he was doing them a favour by letting them stay in the ward at all, seeing as though it was technically too early for visitors, but having this many people in the cubicle was pushing things a bit far.

Harry and Hermione left Ron with Fred, George, Ginny and Molly and retreated to the canteen with Arthur, who had given Hermione a look that told her he wanted to talk to her, and Harry too. Arthur bought them each a bottle of pumpkin juice and they sat around one of the canteen tables. Harry and Hermione exchanged nervous glances and took a drink from their bottles. Arthur looked at them in turn, knowing that the witch and wizard in front of him had had a huge part in his son's awakening.


	39. Chapter 39 Sharing Truths

**Sorry for the wait people, I've ben deciding which car I'm buying when I get a job, (I looooooove car shopping), but it's here now. There's a few more chapters left in the story yet so stay with it...please!**

**Let me know what you think...PLEASE ;)**

**Step XxXxX ;)**

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Chapter 39

'Harry, Hermione, I could beat about the bush and pretend I don't suspect you have anything to do with Ron waking up, but we know each other too well for that to be necessary.' Arthur said switching his glance between Harry and Hermione. 'Yes, there is the chance that it could have been a coincidence that you just happened to be here when he did, but something tells me it isn't. For one thing, you should both be at work and you're not. For another, you're here when visiting hours aren't until this afternoon and finally you two've been exchanging nervous glances ever since I arrived, so which one of you is going to tell me what's been going on?'

Hermione shifted in her seat and looked at Harry, but before he had chance to say anything she decided to answer Arthur.

'I'll do it Arthur, I suppose it's because of me that this all started anyway. But can I just say before I – we, tell you anything that the only reason we didn't tell you what was happening as it was happening, is because we didn't want to put you in a difficult position with the Ministry. You would have been obliged to tell them everything and we didn't want to put you in a position where you had to choose between what you wanted to do and what you were expected to do. You have to believe that.'

Arthur sighed, 'I believe you Hermione. As much as I have the feeling that I won't like what I'm about to hear, I know you're both intelligent enough to have thought whatever you did through…_please_ tell me you thought it through.'

Harry smiled, 'yes Arthur we did, we were extremely careful. More so than you have known us to be!'

Arthur sighed, 'well, that's one thing at least. Go on then, tell me the worst.'

'Well,' Hermione started nervously, 'I suppose it started on Friday night. We'd been at the ball for the trainee Aurors and then we went to a house party afterwards. Something happened that got me upset that I won't go into and I ended up apparating to Hogsmeade to get away from everything. Whilst I was there I found someone, or rather someone found me, I was shocked to see him to say the least. He's wanted by the Ministry, but before I could do anything about that he told me he knew what spell Ron had been hit with, and that he'd tell me if I arranged a meeting for him with Harry.'

Hermione glanced at Arthur; he seemed quite calm, calmer than Hermione felt anyway.

'Ok, who was it? I take it from the fact that the Ministry wants him that he's a Death Eater, or someone who was suspected of being one. They're the only people on the official 'wanted' list at the minute. And considering…' his eyes narrowed, as he remembered what he had heard about the Auror action over the weekend, 'it was Malfoy wasn't it?' he said quietly, answering his own question after the logical answer had come to him. 'He's the only one who probably wouldn't try to harm you on sight, and if I'm interpreting his want of a meeting with Harry correctly, I'm guessing he wanted something in exchange for his information.'

'Well that saved us some explaining anyway,' Harry said.

'So, ignoring the fact that you didn't report a sighting of a known Death Eater, I'm guessing you then went home and told Harry, and most likely Ginny, considering she went to the ball and the party with you, what had happened.'

'Yes I did.'

'Needless to say I was a bit, er, surprised to say the least at what Hermione had said, and when she told me about the coin-'

'What coin?'

'Oh,' Harry said, 'the coin we haven't told you about. 'You remember when we were at school and we had that Defence group going?'

'Vividly,' Arthur replied with a sigh.

'Well, we communicated via enchanted coins, I changed the message on mine and Hermione charmed the others so they'd change when I did. Malfoy gave Hermione one of those so she could let him know if I'd agreed to talk to him. When I found out we had a way to contact him, the thought crossed my mind to tell him to be somewhere and I'd go and er…well…sort him out is the nice way of putting it.'

Arthur smiled, 'failing to report a sighting, and concealing a way of communicating with a fugitive,' he counted the actions off on his fingers, 'and we've only been talking five minutes, Merlin help me! So what did you decide to do? Or do I really need to ask?'

'Probably not,' replied Hermione, 'we thought of a place to meet and told him when to be there. Apparently he had a problem with the time we'd said but nevertheless we met with him. That was Saturday night.'

'And what did our Mister Malfoy have to say for himself?'

'Well, he did what he said he would, and told us the spell Ron was hit with.'

'Was overpowering him as soon as he told you too easy?'

'We couldn't, he wouldn't tell us the counter to the spell until we'd heard him out.' Hermione replied. 'But once we had, he kept his word, again, and told us the counters. He knew he needed to show us we could trust him so he made us an offer we couldn't really refuse. He'd help us to wake up Ron, and then we'd talk to the Ministry on his behalf and try and get them to listen to the information he was willing to give up. He's got quite a bit, more than has been used in the past in exchange for freedom, and…he's changed, well _I_ think he has, he's learned from his mistakes. He left the Death Eaters and Voldemort a few months before the final battle, to be fair; it _was_ to save his own skin, he found out he was 'surplus to requirements' as he put it, but he had only become that way because he refused to do everything that he was ordered to do.'

'He said he never killed anyone, and he's willing to talk under Veritaserum to prove it,' Harry added quietly.

'He is? When did he tell you that? Hermione asked.

'When we were outside, after we'd performed the spell on Ron. He said he knew they weren't likely to believe him, so he'd do anything they wanted to prove he meant what he was saying.'

'Well that will help him a little bit,' Arthur thought aloud, 'but I don't think it's a good idea to let them know how much contact you've had with him so far. If we make it seem like you've only been corresponding with letters, or if we tell them he sent you the coin to communicate with, then that'll take the heat off you. And if we make it seem like he was blackmailing you in some way to get you here to wake up Ron then-'

'No, we can't do that,' Hermione said firmly. 'We can't make him out to look bad in any way, that'll just go against him. I agree we should say we've only been communicating through letters or whatever but I don't want it to sound like he blackmailed us to get us here. I don't care what the Ministry thinks about us, or what they might charge us with. It would be wrong.'

Arthur looked a little taken aback by Hermione's little speech but turned to Harry.

'I feel the same,' Harry said quietly, 'as much as it pains me to say it, I have _started_ to think he can be trusted. He knows there's not much of a chance that the Ministry will give him what he wants, but he wants to at least try and put a few things right…and I've said I'll help him to do that. Hopefully I'll be able to play my, 'Saviour of the wizarding world' card for the first and _only_ time.'

Arthur smiled and took a swig from his bottle of pumpkin juice.

'Look, I understand why you did what you did. I'd've probably done the same thing if it was me in that position, but we still have to work out the best way to tell this tale to the Ministry. I have a feeling that Molly will demand you come round to the Burrow this evening, so we can talk then.'

'Thanks Arthur,' Harry said.

'That's ok Harry. Now lets see if they'll let us back on the ward.'

Harry and Arthur drained their bottles and stood up. Harry walked towards the double doors and Arthur waited for Hermione to walk past him.

'Arthur, thank you so much for not…for not getting angry with us. I know we should have told the Ministry as soon as he got in contact with us but I couldn't risk waking Ron up on anything. I hope you understand that.'

'Of course I do Hermione. You and Harry seem to have handled this situation exceptionally well and if we spin it right, there probably won't be any repercussions with the Ministry.'

'Ok, but still…thank you.'

'It's me who should be thanking you Hermione, thank you for bringing my son back to me.'

Hermione smiled and walked through the double doors trying not to burst into tears in front of Arthur.

When they arrived back in the ward it was just Ginny and Molly sat around Ron's bed, the twins having gone back to the shop.

Hermione sat on the edge of the bed and kissed Ron hello. She couldn't help but beam at him when she pulled back, but that might have had something to do with the huge smile Ron had on his face.

'I'm allowed to go home tonight!' Ron said excitedly.

'Tonight? Is that wise? I mean, you'll have only been awake a few hours by then!'

'I know, but I'm already taking potions to help build my muscle up again and there was no lasting damage from the spell that hit me, so Healer Thompson decided that being in my home environment would help me more than being in here.'

'Home as in the Burrow?'

Ron looked confused, 'where else would I call home?'

'Oh I forgot, we haven't had chance to tell you yet. Er…well…we have a house, we as in you, Harry and me. The Ministry gave it to us as a thank you present for killing Voldemort. Whilst Harry refused to accept a house for nothing, we are paying a stupidly small amount of rent on it, and it's yours to move in to as and when you want to. Providing you want to of course.'

'Are you kidding me? Of course I want to!' Ron said slightly louder than was absolutely necessary. Molly, Arthur, Ginny and Harry all turned towards him. 'Oops! I think that was a bit loud,' he added quietly.

'Really? I didn't notice!' Hermione said with a laugh. 'I have a feeling your mum will want you at home for a good few days before you move in though, and it's probably best, me and Harry have to go to work, so can't look after you, although I could probably skip a few days and catch up.'

'I still can't believe you're training to be Aurors, or that I have a place on the course too!'

'Do you still want to be one? I mean, I know that's what you'd planned to do but we weren't sure, with the war and everything, whether you'd still want to do it, it took us a while to decide to take the plunge.'

'I suppose I never thought of that, but if you're coping then I'm sure I will too.'

'Yeah I'm sure you will, but if you did change your mind, I'm sure the Ministry will be more than happy to let you train to be whatever you want. It's one of the perks of having helped to defeat the evilest wizard in the world,' she leant to wards him to speak quietly in his ear, 'and the rather spectacular reward, not to mention the Order of Merlin that's waiting to be presented to you, Harry and me, as soon as you're well enough to attend the ceremony.'

She pulled back and laughed at Ron's expression.

'Merlin, is there anything else that I need telling? I know about Harry and Ginny, and what you're all doing, I've had the fastest run down of what the Cannons have been doing in the league, I've found out I have a house that I can move into with my best friend and my girlfriend, and that I now have a substantial amount of gold which I'm presuming is waiting for me at Gringotts?'

Hermione nodded her head, 'I think that's it for all the major news, obviously we'll fill you in with the smaller things as we remember them, but for the minute I'd rather just sit here and hug you all day!'

Ron smiled, 'I'd like nothing more than that either, but I _need_ to eat something first!'

Hermione laughed, 'well as much as there are enough Chocolate Frogs here to last you at least a week, I'd say that maybe something else would be more appropriate!'

'Yeah I'd say so.'

'Not wishing to interrupt you two, but we're going,' said Arthur.

'All of you?' Hermione asked.

'Yes dear,' Molly replied, 'I've got to get everything ready for Ron's homecoming and I've got to tell the rest of the family the news.'

'I need to go back to work I'm afraid,' Arthur said.

'Me too,' added Ginny, 'everyone's probably thinking I've been hit by a Confundus charm by the way I've been coming and going out of here all morning, I need to tell people what's been going on.

'I'm going to go and tell Kingsley what's been going on, and tell him I'm fully recovered from our bout of food poisoning!' Harry said with a grin on his face, 'but I'll tell him you're still ill and suffering at home, that way you can stay here with Ron.'

Hermione went to open her mouth but Harry stopped her.

'Hermione we checked with Healer Thompson, he said he'll be able to sort it so you can stay with Ron whilst he's being moved to a different ward for the afternoon, you hardly need to stay in this one anymore do you mate?' he asked Ron.

Ron looked around the ward and smiled.

'No I suppose I don't.'

'Thanks everyone, I'll make sure he doesn't get into trouble this afternoon, and I'll make sure he does everything the Healers tell him to do too,' Hermione said with a smile, squeezing Ron's hand at the same time.

Everyone smiled at Hermione and then in turn gave Ron a hug goodbye.

Once everyone had left Ron turned to Hermione.

'Hermione, can I ask you something?'

'Of course you can, what's wrong?'

'Well, that night, the night I…the final battle. I came back and found you on the floor. I didn't want to think you were dead, but you were lying on the floor. What happened to you?'

Hermione blushed slightly, still embarrassed slightly by how she had succumbed to unconsciousness.

'Well, it's not half as heroic as I'd have liked. You'd just disapparated to HQ with Moody and the spell that a Death Eater cast at you came hurtling towards me. I managed to deflect it and stun the Death Eater. I walked over to him to make sure he was out cold and tied up properly and whilst I was there, another Death Eater and an Auror who were duelling as fast as anything came towards me. When the Auror managed to stun the Death Eater he carried on moving and knocked me to the ground. It just so happened there was a rock on the floor where my head landed and knocked me out cold. As I said, not quite as heroic as I'd like, but there you go!'

'Oh, right.'

'Ron…I'm sorry about what happened to you. If I hadn't been stupid enough to get knocked out then-'

'Don't you dare sit there and say it was you're fault what happened to me!' Ron said in a rush before Hermione had chance to finish her sentence.

'Well if you think about it logically, if you hadn't been there then you wouldn't have been hit!'

'Hermione stop it, you can't blame yourself for this!'

'Too late,' she said quietly, 'I have been doing since the moment we found you.'

'Well in which case it stops right now, _this second_, all right.'

Hermione sighed, 'I'll try, it's something I've been living with for two months now, so it might take me a while.'

'Try, for me, please. Promise me, I don't want you living with that kind of guilt anymore.'

'I promise I'll try. Now,' she said, taking a deep breath, 'on to happier subjects. What do you want to eat?'


	40. Chapter 40 Living Again

**I swear this sun is marvelous! Sunbathing rules! AND England had a fantastic start to their world cup campaign, although only the first half of the matchwas worth watching it has to be said. Anyway...**

**We're nearly there, as I've said previously there's still a couple of issues that need resolving and then that'll be it!**

**Hope you like this one. Please Read and Review.**

**Cheers, Step XxXxX ;)**

* * *

Chapter 40

Hermione was sat in one of the armchairs in the lounge at the Burrow, a bottle of Butterbeer in her hand and a happy, but slightly tired expression on her face. She was looking at her boyfriend, the person who she had fallen in love with many months ago, and who loved her back in the same way.

She looked at him and smiled as she saw him burst into laughter from some sort of anecdote George was telling him and Harry. She suspected Harry had heard it before as she noticed he had been trying not to laugh for the couple of minutes before the punch line had obviously been delivered.

What Hermione had thought was going to be a small gathering of close family and friends had turned into quite a loud and very energetic party. She had been slightly worried about Ron, and wondered whether the excitement would have any bad effect on him, but then she remembered he had only been asleep; yes, it had been for a long time, but the Healer had told her there had been no lasting damage, and as long as Ron felt all right in himself, he could live life to the fullest.

Ron was, apparently, taking his words to heart. Hermione hadn't forgotten the look of utter shock on his face when Harry told him how long he had been unconscious, and she understood how he felt. They had all been leading sheltered lives for so long, so in a time when they were free from hatred, anger and suffering, it was cruel that he hadn't been able to do what the rest of the wizarding world had been doing and enjoy life.

So there he was laughing like he had never laughed before, talking to everyone in the room and wanting to find out everything the people around him had been doing. Hermione had joined in for a while, standing by his side not wishing to leave it, but pure tiredness had forced her to sit down and rest, having not slept very well for a long time.

As she looked at him she thought of all the things they would now be able to do, normal everyday things that they could enjoy together, going for a drink in the pub, going on a night out with Harry and Ginny, and the rest of their friends, going on romantic dates and spending hours talking about what they wanted out of life. In other words, living.

She drained her bottle and as she shifted in her seat realised she really should go and use the bathroom before a funny joke was told, making it probable she would lose all dignity. She stood and put her empty bottle on the table as she walked out of the room. She made her way upstairs and went into the bathroom. Two minutes later she emerged and was making her way back to the staircase. As she stepped onto it she saw Ron's feet disappear into his room on the floor above her. She frowned and silently prayed there was nothing wrong. She went up the stairs to Ron's bedroom.

She peered into the room and looked at Ron's back. He was facing the window holding a picture in his hand. Hermione quietly made her way towards him and stopped when she was stood a metre behind him. She looked at the photo and smiled when she saw which one it was. It was one of the two of them hugging and looking into each other's eyes. Hermione could see herself saying something to Ron in the picture. When the picture replayed the scene over again, she said the words her picture self was saying, out loud.

'The way I feel about you now, I know will never change,

For a while there, everything was new and felt a little strange,

But now it's good, the way we are feels right; I live to see your smile,

The one that takes me to heaven, somewhere I haven't been in a while.'

When she had started talking Ron had jumped at her voice but had smiled when he realised it was Hermione stood behind him. She had walked next to him and he had pulled her to his side as she finished speaking the rhyme. He set the picture back on the windowsill and turned towards Hermione pulling her into his chest.

She wrapped her arms around him and sighed a contented sigh.

'What did you come up here for?' Hermione asked Ron quietly.

'I came to find you, you disappeared and I wanted to know where you'd got to.'

'Well, I'd drunk too much Butterbeer and I needed to do something about it.'

'Ah, that would explain the quick getaway!'

'Yes it would,' she replied laughing. She turned to Ron and looked at him not ever wanting to take her eyes off his startling blue ones. 'Are you all right?' she asked him.

'Why wouldn't I be?' he asked in reply.

'No reason, I'm just making sure you are. It's a lot to take in, what you've been through, I just need to know you're coping with it all ok. Not that there's any reason why you wouldn't be…I just…wanted to be sure.'

Ron smiled, 'I'm fine Hermione, I swear I am. But if I'm not, I'll let you know, not that you'll need telling, you're pretty perceptive when it comes to knowing how I'm feeling.'

'I wasn't for a long time though was I? That's why I need to ask so much. I know it can be annoying, but I can't bear the thought of you being upset, especially if I can help.'

'Hermione, I don't mind you asking in the slightest, in fact I'd be upset if you didn't.' He pulled her tighter towards him. 'You still remember the words to that song then?' he asked, looking at the photo.

'Yes, every one of them. That's the first time I've said them for a long time though. I couldn't bring myself to think about them, or that song. It was too hard, remembering what we had and not really knowing when I'd feel like that again.'

'Can you listen to it now?'

'I'd say so.'

'Good.'

He turned around and took his wand out of his pocket as he did so. He pointed to the small radio that was on one of his shelves and a second later the song Hermione had recited lyrics from came out of the small device. He pocketed his wand and turned back to Hermione, taking her hands in his.

'Hermione Granger would you care to dance?'

Hermione blushed slightly, 'why thank you Ronald, I would love to!'

She placed her hand around his waist and he pulled her into an embrace. They rotated slowly on the spot, Ron humming the tune as they did so. For the entirety of the song both Hermione and Ron smiled, except of course when they kissed. It was the first time the two of them had been alone together properly, and they appreciated having a few minutes without any interruptions.

'I don't think I ever want to move from here,' Ron whispered when the song came to an end.

'I don't want to either. Can we just stay here forever?'

'Yeah ok.'

The two of them fell silent. Both felt so much comfort and happiness that the thought of moving wasn't something they wanted to contemplate. However they were brought back to earth when the bathroom door slammed on the floor below. They heard Ginny say 'Oops!' and then heard her giggle, Hermione suspected Ginny had had one to many drinks.

'I think you're little sister has been drinking.'

Ron laughed, 'I think so too. Do you think she'll make it downstairs without falling?'

They heard a stumble and a loud 'Oww!' come from Ginny.

They laughed.

'I'd say no. Come on, we'd better help her before she tries to heal any damage she's done. I don't think Healing when slightly drunk is a good idea.'

'Ok, just one thing before we go.'

'What's that?'

'I love you Hermione; you do know that don't you? Nothing's changed in the way I feel about you, or us.'

'I know that Ron, just like you know I love you too, with all my heart and soul.'

Ron was leaning in to kiss Hermione when a series of bangs echoed up the stairs. Hermione and Ron looked at each other and laughed at Ginny's apparent misfortune, before leaving the room hand in hand.

The next morning Hermione woke up, and for the first time in a very long time, she woke up with a smile on her face. Before she opened her eyes she had to remind herself that the whole thing hadn't been a dream, and today was the start of a new chapter in her life.

The previous night Harry had talked with Arthur about the best way he was going to play things with the Ministry, and so today he was to go in and talk to Kingsley Shacklebolt first, and then see if Rufus Scrimgeour would do Harry the small favour of not bringing charges against him and Hermione for not telling the Ministry about Malfoy. Then if that went well, ask him to consider Malfoy's offer of information in exchange for his freedom.

When she had been about to leave the Burrow last night Ron had insisted that Hermione go in to work the next day, as he wanted to visit his newly formed vault at Gringott's (and the stash of gold that was sat inside), and he wanted to go to the Ministry to talk about his probable career as an Auror with the head of the Auror office. They arranged to meet for lunch so they could spend Hermione's lunch hour together and talk about Ron moving in to their house.

Hermione got up and went about her normal morning routine but this time she did it all with a smile on her face. She met Harry on the landing after she had emerged from her shower and beamed at him.

'Morning Harry!' she said cheerfully.

Harry started to laugh.

'What?' Hermione asked.

'Nothing, I'm just happy to see you smiling and cheerful in a morning. It's been a long time since I've seen you this happy.'

'I know, I woke up with a smile on my face this morning. I'm guessing you did too.'

'Yeah I did.'

'What time are you meeting Kingsley?'

'Well he's not teaching today so he said to go in after ten, so he had time to sort his work out before I arrived.'

'Oh, ok. Do you want me to tell your tutors that you won't be there?'

'No, it's ok, Kingsley said he'd mention it to them for me.'

'Ok then.'

'Er…Hermione…'

Hermione had started to go into her room, but she stopped when Harry spoke.

'Yes?'

'Er…I hate to bring you back down to earth with a bump, but I have a feeling you've forgotten about what happened on Friday night, before you apparated to Hogsmeade.'

Hermione's eyes widened as the memories of kissing Cairo came flooding back to her.

'Oh God, I'd totally forgotten! And I wasn't in work yesterday either, he's going to think I skived off because I didn't want to see him isn't he?'

'Possibly.'

'Oh Merlin! Harry what am I going to say to him?'

'You're asking me? How the hell should I know what you should say?'

'Well you're the only one who I can damn well ask aren't you?' She closed her eyes as she realised something else, 'I'm going to have to tell Ron about this aren't I? Although technically I already did, he just happened to be unconscious at the time.'

'Yeah good luck with that!' Harry walked towards the bathroom and shut the door before Hermione had chance to question him again.

'Harry, _seriously_ what shall I say to him?' she shouted through the door.

'Who? Ron or Cairo?'

'Oh God! Either!'

'I don_'t know _Hermione, but you'll think of something! You're an intelligent girl!'

'Well thank you Harry, that was _most_ helpful!'

She turned and went into her room. She got dressed and had her breakfast and got her bag ready for work, all before Harry had finished in the shower. She shouted her goodbyes to Harry up the stairs and apparated to the Ministry.

As soon as she arrived at the Ministry she opened her eyes and immediately wanted to close them again; she had, apparently, apparated to work at the exact second Cairo had, and they had appeared next to each other in the Atrium. They both stared at each other wide-eyed and mouths open. It was Hermione who broke the prolonged silence first.

'Morning Cairo,' she said stiffly.

'Morning Hermione,' he replied in the same tone.

Cairo opened his mouth to say something but changed his mind and turned around and started walking away from Hermione. Before Hermione realised what she was doing she called out to him.

'Cairo!'

He stopped and turned round to look at her. She took the few paces that separated them and looked at him.

'Look, Cairo, I'm…I'm sorry about what happened on Friday. I didn't mean to-'

Cairo had raised his hand to stop Hermione talking.

'Please don't apologise Hermione, it'll only make me feel worse,' Cairo said quietly, 'if anyone should be apologising it should be me. I wish I could say it was the alcohol I'd drunk or something like that, but the truth is it probably didn't make that much of a difference. I'd wanted to tell you something to that effect for a while. If I'd have been thinking straight, or listening to the way you were talking about Ron then I wouldn't have said a word. I know how you feel about him and I know you'd never cheat on him or anything like that…so I'm sorry.'

'Apology accepted. Can we put this behind us?' she asked.

'Yeah, I think we'd better.'

'Good.'

'Oh, and I did hear about Ron, I take it that's why you weren't here yesterday.'

'Yeah I was at the hospital. I can't quite believe it, I keep expecting someone to wake me up and tell me it's all been some elaborate dream, but as yet no one has so I'm enjoying every minute of it!'

'Well I'm pleased for you. No one deserves to go through that, especially you.'

'Thanks Cairo…Cai.'

He smiled.

'Shall we go up? We'll be late if we stay here much longer.'

'Yes we'd better.'

As Hermione walked next to Cairo towards the lifts at the far end of the Atrium she mentally sighed a huge sigh of relief. Well, she thought, that could have been a hell of a lot worse, at least he apologised. She decided to try and forget the whole thing as they had a few years training together ahead of them and there was no point in making that time uncomfortable. Now all she had to do was tell Ron.

Hermione left the room they had their last lesson of the morning in at five past twelve. She was last to leave the room as her book had refused to go into her bag. Eventually she managed to shove it in and left the room. As she turned right to walk down the corridor she heard a noise behind her.

'_He Hem_!'

She turned and beamed when she saw Ron leaning against the wall.

'I was starting to think you'd skived your lesson!' he said smiling.

He walked up to her and kissed her hello before taking her hand in his. They started walking down the corridor to the lift.

'I couldn't get my book in my bag.'

'Ah ok.'

He reached behind her and took her bag off her shoulder and carried it for her. She looked at him and smiled.

'Why thank you kind sir!'

'You're most welcome!'

They reached the lift and stood waiting for it to arrive. Ron turned to face Hermione and pulled her towards him.

'So where do you want to go for lunch?'

'I don't mind, you decide.'

'Well, where do you usually go?'

'The hospital canteen!'

'Surely you didn't spend _every_ lunch time at the hospital?'

'Erm…yeah I did,' Hermione replied quietly.

'Seriously?'

'Yes Ron, seriously. Why is that so hard to believe?'

'It's not really. I just don't know what to say. I'm happy that you came to see me everyday but I don't want to have been the reason for you missing out on anything.'

'Ron don't even _start_ saying things like that. I know you would have done the same had it been me in the hospital and I _wanted_ to be there. I _had_ to be there. Ok?'

'Ok, but thank you.'

He leaned forward and kissed her. The lift bell rang and the doors slid open. Hermione pulled back and looked at the lift. Cairo walked out the lift, staring at the floor as he did so.

'Hey Cai,' Hermione said, cringing inside as she watched him walk by. 'How come you're back up here?'

'I left my book in the room. See you later.'

'Oh ok…see you.'

She followed Ron into the lift.

'Do I know him?' Ron asked Hermione.

'Er…you might do, he was in Gryffindor, Ginny's year.'

'I thought I recognised his face. Is he in your group?'

'Yeah he is.'

Hermione fell quiet, guilt slowly forming inside her. She turned to Ron and looked at him, trying to convince herself that Ron would be all right with what she wanted to tell him. He was a jealous person; that she knew already. She would just have to convince him that there was no need to feel jealous about Cairo. She took a deep breath and looked at him.

'Ron, I've got something to tell you.'


	41. Chapter 41 Difficulties Explained

**And so the penultimate chapter arrives! That's right, the next time I update will be the lastchapterin this fic. I've started writing it but I want it to be spot on, so it might be a while before I put it up. I'm sure you understand.**

**Anyway...let me know what you think of this one. Please ;)**

**Step XxXxX ;)**

* * *

Chapter 41

'He…he kissed you?'

Hermione and Ron were sat in a café in Diagon Alley, having decided to go there for lunch. Hermione had finished telling Ron about what had happened on Friday night and was awaiting his response. So far things were a little calmer than she had expected.

'Yes he did,' she replied quietly.

'What…er…what did you do…when he did?'

'Erm…well I didn't do anything at first, I told you I was thinking about you and when I opened my eyes I realised it wasn't you and then totally freaked out. I shouted at him, then he tried to explain and then I apparated home,' she replied in a rush.

'So you didn't kiss him back?'

'No! Of course I didn't. As soon as I'd gone home and changed out of my dress robes I apparated straight to the hospital to tell you what had happened. Obviously I didn't know if you could hear me, but I had to tell you. I was so upset, I pleaded with you to wake up there and then, I know now of course that no matter how much pleading and hoping I did you weren't ever going to wake up without the counter spells Malfoy told us, but still, that's beside the point, I had to tell you what had happened.'

'I still can't believe I owe him…well, my life,' Ron said quietly.

Hermione is slightly taken aback by the change in subject, 'I know, it's strange how things work out. Look Ron, I'll understand if you're angry with me but you have to know I feel _nothing_ for Cairo; I've never thought of him as anything other than a friend. I swear. You're the one I want to spend my life with.'

She shut her eyes when she realised what she had just said. Good one Hermione, she thought, great time to bring that up and scare him! She opened her eyes and looked into Ron's, trying to read what he was thinking, but she failed, she had no idea.

'Please say something,' she pleaded.

Ron leaned forward across the table and took Hermione's hands in his.

'Hermione, I…I believe you. Of course I believe you. Mum told me what you did for me when I was in St. Mungo's, although she seems to have missed a few details out, like you visiting me every lunchtime _and_ evening, but what matters is, I know how you feel about me. As much as I wouldn't mind jinxing Cairo for thinking he can kiss my girlfriend, I feel sorry for him…a little bit anyway.'

'Why?' asked Hermione, confused.

'Because I know how I'd feel if I saw you everyday and knew I couldn't be with you, that's why.'

'Oh…ok,' Hermione replied, not sure how to take the apparent compliment. 'Are you…are you sure you're ok with this? I mean, if I'm honest, I thought you'd be a bit more upset about the whole thing.'

'Well, if I didn't know how you felt about me then I probably would have flown off the handle a bit, but I _do_ know, so I'm all right, really I am.'

'Wow…well, that was easier than expected.'

Ron smiled, 'We're you worried?'

'Yeah I was, I didn't want to spoil anything, especially when everything is going right for once. But I had to be honest with you. I can't stand lying or deception of any kind, and we both know-'

'Are you ready to order?' the waitress asked cheerily, interrupting Hermione.

They turned towards her and then looked at the two unopened menus on the table.

'Er…no we're not, we'll be a few more minutes,' Ron replied.

The waitress's smile faltered but she hitched it up fast enough and smiled at Ron.

'Well, when you're ready I'll be over there,' she walked away from the table, 'waiting on the edge of my seat,' she muttered quietly, but loud enough for Hermione and Ron to hear.

Ron started chuckling whereas Hermione's mouth dropped.

'_How rude_!' she said louder than was necessary.

'To be fair Hermione, we've been sat here ten minutes and haven't even looked at the menu yet! I'd be annoyed if I was her!'

'It's her job! What happened to the customer is always right?'

'She probably not being paid enough to care. Now what do you want to eat?' he asked, handing her an open menu. 'Order anything, I feel the need to indulge!'

'Well, as long as you can indulge quickly; I only have an hour, or as it is now, fifty minutes.'

Ron raised his eyebrows at her. Hermione laughed.

'Point taken,' she said with a grin on her face.

* * *

'Are your eyes closed?' Hermione asked Ron.

She had Side-Along-Apparated him home so he could see the house for the first time. He sighed impatiently.

'Yes Hermione, they're closed. Can I open them yet?'

'No.'

'What? Why? We've already apparated so we must be there!'

Hermione laughed, 'I was only joking, you can open your eyes!'

Ron opened his eyes and looked around.

'Well? What do you think?' Hermione asked.

'About what?'

'The house of course, what else would I be asking you about?'

'Hermione, I've seen all of three metres of the hallway! But it has to be said as hallways go it is very nice. I can see you've got Harry well trained when it comes to keeping his shoes nice and tidy.'

'Did you expect anything else?'

'No!'

Hermione showed Ron around the rest of the house whilst Harry and Ginny sat and watched telly in the lounge.

'So, do you like it?'

'I do. It's very muggle-y'

'Well we thought it would be good to have the best of both worlds, your dad loves it!'

Ron smiled, 'I bet he does.'

'Do you still want to move in then?'

'Hermione, why do you think I wouldn't want to move in?'

'I don't know, I just don't want you to feel like you _have_ to. It's quite a big step, for us I mean, living together. I don't want you to feel pressured in any way.'

'Well, the way I see it is we've practically been living together since we started school, we saw each other every day, we spent nearly every waking moment in each other's company. I know we fought and bickered and we still do a little bit, but I think we know each other's annoying habits well enough by now, there's not going to be any surprises there…is there?'

Hermione smiled, 'no, I haven't developed any annoying habits…I don't think.'

'Well there you are then, I know it seems like a big thing, us officially living together, and it is, but I think we're ready for this. Don't you?'

Hermione looked at him, 'Yeah I do,' she replied quietly.

'That's settled then. I'll move my stuff in tomorrow!'

* * *

Hermione, Ron, Harry and Ginny were sat in the lounge. Harry was about to explain what had happened to him at the Ministry. Hermione had wanted to hear his news as soon as they both arrived home but after Harry's insistence that things went as well as could be expected she agreed to wait until after Ron had arrived.

'Well Harry, what happened?' Hermione asked.

'Well…I went to see Kingsley and explained to him what had happened over the weekend, I trust him and knew he wouldn't run and tell Scrimgeour every detail. So him, Arthur and me decided what to tell the Minister. We thought saying Malfoy had contacted us through the coin, which had arrived via owl a few days ago, was the best thing to do, and we thought it would be best to say we had just met him the once.'

'Can I just ask something before you carry on Harry?' Ron asked.

'Go for it mate.'

'I know he helped you wake me up, but how can you be sure that he's changed. It's _Malfoy_ for Merlin's sake. Do you remember what he did to us at school and the part he played in Dumbledore's death?'

'Believe me Ron, I remember. But I can't ignore the fact that he put himself in danger to try and help us help you, and I've tried to ignore the obvious changes in his manner and character, but after a while you just can't ignore major changes like that. I was as sceptical as anyone could be when Hermione came home and told us what he'd said, but he's started to prove he can be trusted. He kept his word, so the least I can do is keep mine.'

'Hmm, ok then. I still don't like him though.'

'Neither do I mate, neither do I. Anyway, after we'd decided what I was going to say, Kingsley asked the Minister if he would see me and he said he would. So I went in to his office and relayed everything we'd gone over previously. I have to say you'd have been proud of my acting skills, which must have worked because he said of course he understood the situation we'd been in and understood that we couldn't possibly have told the Ministry without endangering Ron's long term health. Hence the reason why when I mentioned the possibility of the Ministry bringing charges against Hermione and me, he waved them off in about two seconds flat.

'Good to know,' Hermione said with a sigh.

'Did you mention me in any of this?' Ginny asked.

'No, why?'

'Well I _was_ involved too! _I_ was the one who healed him after he'd managed to get caught by that Auror!'

'I know you were Ginny, and we're grateful, but there was no point in bringing you into it, I didn't want you to get into trouble.'

'One day you will _have_ to stop trying to protect me you know!' Ginny said, slightly annoyed.

'I know, but until then I will try and protect you from everything. As much as it annoys you I can't not do it…so you'll just have to get used to it,' he replied with a grin.

Ginny tried to scowl but failed when she looked at Harry's cheeky grin. She leant forwards and kissed Harry.

'Oi!' Ron said, 'you know the rules, not in front of me thank you!'

'Oh sod off!' Ginny replied before kissing Harry again.

Ron went to protest but Hermione put her hand on his chin ad turned his face towards her. She raised an eyebrow and leaned in to kiss him. After a few seconds they still hadn't pulled apart.

'All right, point taken!' Ginny said, looking slightly put out.

Ron and Hermione broke apart and grinned at each other.

'Anyway…back to the Ministry,' Harry said, getting back on point. 'In a nutshell I explained what information Malfoy said he'd give the Ministry in exchange for his freedom. I also reminded the Minister in a _very_ subtle way that Karkaroff had been released from Azkaban in exchange for a few names, and that was much less than what Malfoy was offering. He said he'd discuss the matter with various people, I don't know who, and he'd let me know if I was needed to contact Malfoy again.'

'Was that it? He didn't demand you hand the coin in?' Hermione asked, slightly shocked.

'No, actually. He didn't. I think he knows he has to play this one very carefully to get the information that Malfoy's offering. I think he realises that Malfoy knows how much the information is worth to the Ministry, and he know it too. So he's being very careful about not scaring Malfoy away.'

'So that's it?' Ron asked.

'That's it,' Harry replied, 'well until they want to see Malfoy that is.'

'Wow, I can't quite believe this is nearly over, mind you it's only been going on since Friday. Still, seems ages ago that I first talked to him,' Hermione said.

'Yeah it does,' agreed Ginny, 'Oh! I almost forgot!' She released herself from Harry's hold and walked quickly into the kitchen. When she returned she was carrying a bottle of Firewhisky and four glasses. 'Present from dad, to the four of us. He thought we would like something to celebrate the four of us starting to live somewhat normal lives with.'

'Fantastic!' Ron said smiling, 'good old dad!'

Ginny put the glasses and the bottle on the table and poured each of them a generous measure out. They all stood up and took their glasses from Ginny.

'I'd like to propose a toast' the younger witch said, 'but before that I'd like to waffle on for a few minutes.'

Harry, Hermione and Ron smiled.

'The tenth of July was a day that none of us will ever forget, and that date will remain engraved in our minds forever. It was, on one hand the most…horrendous day we will ever know, but on the other hand, it was a day when a huge weight was lifted from our shoulders. We lost people we knew well, people who we had met only once, and countless others who lost their lives fighting for what they believed in. But in the end, we won. However, like every aspect of life, things weren't as good as they could be. Someone we loved dearly was taken from us, not in the total sense, and for that we were grateful. But I lost my brother, possibly the brother I fight with most, but that's probably because he's the one I'm closest to. Hermione lost the person she had fallen in love with, and Harry lost his best friend.

'But yesterday he was brought back to us, and finally the four of us can start to live life like it was supposed to be lived. To the fullest, with a lot of laughter to keep us all sane. So if you would please raise your glasses, I'd like to propose a toast.

Harry, Hermione and Ron copied Ginny's movement and raised their glasses so they were all close to touching.

'To living life to the fullest,' Ginny said, ending her speech.

'To living life to the fullest,' the other three replied.

The four of them touched their glasses together.

'In one after three?' Ron asked.

'In one after three,' the rest chorused together before knocking their drinks back in one go.

Hermione managed to stifle the cough that was trying to escape her throat. Downing shots of Firewhisky was not her speciality but if the occasion warranted it, then she wouldn't hold back.

'I don't think I'll ever get used to this stuff,' she whispered, not having quite found her voice.

'Me neither!' Harry said, at the same volume.

Ron looked at Ginny and rolled his eyes, tutting loudly as he did so, 'we'll have to teach them better Ginny. They're letting the side down!'

'Aren't they just, _very_ disappointing it has to be said.'

'Oh well we _are_ sorry aren't we Harry? We will try and do better next time! But in the mean time shall we watch some telly, there's an absolute classic muggle film on that's always worth watching!'

'Hang on Hermione, there's something we need to talk about first.'

'There is?' she asked, turning to look at Ron as she did so, 'what is it?'

'Well I do believe in six days time, something is happening which should involve a huge party, lots of present giving and you drinking too much!'

Harry and Ginny laughed before landing back on the sofa. Hermione smiled, all recent thoughts of her birthday had been buffeted out of her head by those of Ron and Malfoy, but now she could actually think about the day she stopped being a teenager and became twenty years old.

'So, my darling Hermione, how exactly would you like to celebrate your birthday? And what would you like for a birthday present?'

'To be honest, I haven't really thought about it. What with everything that's been going on, I haven't had _time_ to think about it. And to be fair, I got my present yesterday. There's nothing more I wanted than to have you with me when I celebrated my birthday, and now I've got that. So really I don't mind what we do, as long as you're stood right beside me, we can do anything.'

'Well I think I can manage that, but that was _really_ unhelpful! I suppose I'll just have to think of a present all by myself won't I?'

'Yes you will! And you can hardly talk, you're a nightmare for not knowing what you want for your birthday!'

'I'm not that bad! Anyway, you don't mind if I organise something for your birthday night then?'

'No not at all, just remember I have to be in work the next day, not 'til eleven, but still.'

'Don't worry, I'll remember.'

'And don't feel you have to go to too much effort-'

'Hermione, I'll go to as much effort as I want, you're my girlfriend and it's your birthday, let me spoil you.'

'But-'

'No arguments!'

'Fine! Just-'

'Ah!'

'Ro-'

'Ah ah!'

Hermione was about to continue to try and protest but Ron kissed her before she had the chance. She pulled back.

'What was that for?' she asked.

'It was the easiest way to stopping you arguing!'

'But Ron-'

He kissed her again and she felt him smile against her mouth. She did the same, but let herself be kissed. Oh sod it! She thought, if he wants to spoil me then who am I to stop him. After all, as Ginny had said, it was their time to live life to the fullest.


	42. Chapter 42 Starting Now

**And so it ends...**

* * *

Chapter 42

Wednesday the fifteenth of September 1999 would be a day Draco Malfoy would remember for the rest of his life. Regardless of what happened in the next two hours he would at least know he had been given a chance to try and make up for some of the things he did whilst in Lord Voldemort's service.

He had repaired the robes he was wearing and managed to make himself look half decent. He still had scars on his face from the run in he had with the Ministry Auror, and the dark circles under his eyes were somewhat permanent, he really didn't notice them anymore.

He had spent the night in a small cell deep underneath the Ministry of Magic. He had suggested he be held there to show the Ministry he was serious about his intentions, but he had other reasons for requesting the cell; it was probably the safest place he could be. For once he had actually managed to catch a few hours sleep.

A quiet knock on the door brought him from his thoughts and he stood up from the bed, ready to be taken to the dungeons for his hearing. To his surprise it wasn't a Ministry employee come to take him, it was Hermione Granger.

'Can I come in?' she asked quietly.

'Yes,' he replied.

'Thanks,' she shut the door behind her and looked around the small room.

'Not exactly 'homely' is it?' he said with a smirk.

'Not really, no. Then again it is a holding cell,' she replied with half a smile.

'True,' he replied. He looked at the witch stood before him. 'Not, for once, wanting to sound rude Granger, but why are you here? Potter's the one who has asked to be at the hearing, not you.'

'I know he did, but I just wanted to say something to you, because if you're freed then I have a feeling you won't be staying around here for long, so I would have missed my chance.'

'Well you're right there Granger, if the Ministry decide to believe me then I will have left the country by the end of the day.'

'It's a good thing I came then isn't it? Now, whilst I'm saying what I'm about to say, I don't want you interrupting with any snide comments, I don't want you smirking and I don't want you laughing at anything, all right?'

Malfoy nodded his head in agreement.

'Right, well, all I really wanted to say was…thank you. I know you mainly did all this for your own benefit, but I don't care. You changed the way my life is going to go for the better. If you hadn't told us about the spells then I wouldn't have lived to see Ron wake up. I won't ever forget that…so…thank you. That's all I wanted to say.'

She raised her head to look at him, his grey eyes looked back at her and she saw a small smile creep across his face.

'I said no smirking!' she said.

'I'm not smirking!' he argued, still smirking.

'Yes you are!'

'Well I don't mean to, apparently my smile and my smirk are very similar, but…on a more serious note, you're welcome.'

'I'd better be going,' Hermione said, looking at her watch, I'll be late for work.'

She turned and opened the door, behind which a security guard was stood.

'Granger, wait. Shut the door…please.'

Hermione did as she was asked and turned to face Malfoy.

'What?'

'Same rules, no interrupting, no smirking and no laughing.'

'Deal.'

'It's me who should be saying thank you to you. Regardless of what happens today, you trusted me, when there was absolutely no reason why you should. After everything that happened at school and afterwards I never expected you to, but you did and for that I thank you. Don't feel like you owe me anything, you don't, but I still owe you a lot…so…thank you.'

'You're welcome. Will you do something for me though?'

'What?'

'Don't ever use the word 'Mudblood' again.'

Malfoy looked at her, a slightly shocked expression on his face. He regained his composure after a second.

'I'll…I'll try.'

'Good. Now I really have to go. Good luck Draco, I hope you get what you want.'

She opened the door and left without a backward glance.

Malfoy sighed and looked at the door, 'Goodbye…Gra-…Hermione.'

* * *

Hermione woke up on the morning of her birthday and rolled over, expecting to see her boyfriend led asleep next to her. He wasn't there though, so she rolled back over to look at the time on her alarm clock. It read nine seventeen. She laid on her back and closed her eyes wondering what Ron had been planning for the past few days for her birthday night. It was quite annoying for her to know that something was being arranged, especially when there seemed to be quite a few people helping him doing it, and not having _any_ idea what it was. 

She opened her eyes and saw the door open. Ron backed into the room carrying a tray with breakfast on. She smiled at him as he turned round and beamed at her.

'How long have you been up?' Hermione asked Ron as he perched on the edge of the bed, fully dressed.

'About an hour.'

'An _hour_! Ron it's Sunday! You never get up early on a Sunday!'

'When it's my girlfriend's birthday I do.'

He put the tray on the floor and then kissed Hermione.

'Happy birthday Hermione,' he said as he took a small box out of his pocket. 'It's kind of only half your present, you'll get the rest tonight but I thought I'd better give you this now.'

Hermione took the box from Ron and opened it, a huge smile on her face as she did so.

She looked at the ring inside and took it out.

'Hang on, isn't this-'

'Your ring, which I gave you before the final battle. Yes!'

Hermione looked at her right hand and noticed the band had gone from her finger.

'When did you-?

'Just look at it properly first,' he said.

Hermione turned the ring in her fingers and gasped when she saw three diamonds set into the silver.

'Oh Ron, they're beautiful!'

'When I bought you the ring I wanted to get you something more than a silver band, but money was tight, as ever, and I didn't have much time either 'cause of everything that was going on. But now I can give you what you deserve, so I have. It's still bewitched so you can still feel how I feel about you, but now it sparkles too!'

Hermione pulled Ron into a hug, 'I love it,' she said as she held him. 'Mind you I loved it before, but now, as you said, it sparkles too! When did you manage to take it from me without me noticing?'

Ron smiled, 'now I can't be telling you my secrets can I?'

'Oh please tell me!'

'Well…to be honest, it's not very spectacular. I waited until you fell asleep on the sofa last night and took it to the jeweller who I'd persuaded to do it so late at night, then I borrowed a simple silver band from him, came back and put it on your hand. Then when I went to collect your ring from him this morning I took the silver band back. I'm just glad you didn't decide to try the spell on it, 'cause it wouldn't have worked!'

'Is that why you were giving me a lot of wine last night, so I was less likely to notice?' she asked with a mock scowl.

'Would I do such a thing?' Ron asked, pretending to be annoyed.

'Yes!' Hermione said, unperturbed by the look on his face.

'Yeah Ok, I would. Worked though didn't it?' he replied with a smile. 'Anyway, eat your breakfast, you have to get ready. We're going to see your parents at ten.' He picked up the tray off the floor and put it on Hermione's lap.

'What do you mean we're going to see my parents at ten? Why?'

'Because they wanted to spend time with their daughter and her handsome boyfriend on her birthday, that's why.'

'Is there anything else I need to know about what I'm doing? This is a beautiful breakfast by the way, thank you.'

'You're welcome, and no, there's nothing else you need to know. Not yet anyway.'

Hermione drank her glass of orange juice in one go, then buttered a slice of not-too-well-done toast (exactly how she liked it) and bit hungrily into it.

'You will give me chance to get ready for whatever you've got planned for tonight won't you?' She asked through her mouthful of toast. 'You won't let me turn up in my jeans and trainers will you?'

Ron laughed, 'no Hermione I won't. I'll give you plenty of time to get ready. Now if you'll excuse me I have a phone call to make. Unless you want me to stay here and watch you eat your breakfast of course.'

'No no, you go and make your very important phone call, and I'll eat my breakfast.'

'Good, I'll be back in a few minutes.'

Ron stood and started to leave the room, when he got to the door Hermione called him back.

'Oh, Ron!'

He turned to face her.

'Yep?'

'If you _want_ me to turn up somewhere in something other than my jeans and trainers, you will give me more than,' she looked at her alarm clock, '_thirty five minutes_ to get ready won't you?'

Ron laughed, 'yes Hermione, you'll have plenty of time!'

Hermione and Ron spent the day with Charles and Jan. Ron was the perfect boyfriend, he was polite to Hermione's parents, laughed with Charles at Hermione's slightly annoying habits – but not too much that it offended his girlfriend – and was charming towards Jan.

Charles drove them to the park that had been Hermione's favourite as she was growing up, and they walked round for a couple of hours before eating the picnic that Jan had prepared for them. The September sun was pleasant to sit in but the four of them still needed their jackets to keep the light breeze from making them shiver.

Ron entertained Charles and Jan with anecdotes from their time at Hogwarts, and loved telling the story of how Hermione had made small birds attack him out of jealousy, something Charles found hysterically funny.

They finished the afternoon with Charles bringing down the photograph albums of Hermione growing up to show Ron, much to Ron's delight and Hermione's dismay. But as much as Hermione cringed over the occasional photograph she felt so happy that afternoon. Her family and the man she loved surrounded her, and everyone was happy, smiling and laughing and enjoying each other's company.

At four o'clock Ron said it was time for them to go, as he had promised Hermione plenty of time to get ready for tonight. Jan agreed, she also had to get ready and wanted plenty of time to do it in.

'It's six o'clock tonight isn't it Ron?' Jan asked.

'Yes it is, if it's all right with you Harry and Ginny will come by at around ten to and take you…there.'

'What?' Hermione asked.

'That's fine Ron. We'll see you both later,' Charles replied, ignoring Hermione's question.

'No one's going to tell me anything are they?' Hermione asked.

'No!' Ron replied as he held out Hermione's jacket for her to take and put on.

Charles and Jan smiled.

'Well mum, dad, apparently I'll be seeing you later.'

'Yes you will Hermione,' Charles replied, 'be careful apparating home.'

'We will dad. Bye.'

Hermione and Ron apparated back to their lounge.

'I can't believe you're depriving me of all but one birthday present until tonight. That's just mean!'

'Yes it is, but think of all the unwrapping you have to look forward to! Now I don't want to deprive you of precious 'getting ready' time so why don't you go upstairs and start.'

'And how am I supposed to know what to wear?'

'Well if Ginny has kept her word she'll have sorted that out for you, you should find what she thinks would be _appropriate attire-_' Hermione raised her eyebrow's at his choice of words, 'hung on the back of your bedroom door.'

'_Seriously_?'

'Seriously. Now go!'

Hermione went upstairs and walked into her room. Hung up on the back of the door were her scarlet dress robes. A piece of parchment was balanced on the door handle. She unfolded it and read it.

_Hermione,_

_Ron will love you in these, he doesn't know what you're wearing, and he doesn't want to know until he collects you later on. Don't worry about being overdressed, everyone has been told to wear dress robes._

_See you later, oh, and happy birthday!_

_Ginny x_

'As if they've only given me _two hours warning_ that I need to get ready for something that needs _dress robes_ to go to! Now _that's _mean!' she said aloud.

As much as she was now slightly panicking about getting herself ready, she was starting to get excited. She had a feeling tonight was going to be a lot of fun.

It was five to six and Hermione was finished getting ready and was surveying herself in her full-length mirror. She smiled at what she saw. Her hair was pinned up with the odd curl falling down her back. Her make up was subtle, but made her eyes look big and bright.

She heard a crack downstairs.

'Hermione?' Ron called from the hallway.

'Yes?' she replied.

'Are you ready?'

'Yes I am, I'm coming down now.'

She walked out of her room and carefully made her way down the stairs in her heels. At the bottom Ron stood waiting for her, he was wearing plain black dress robes and looked _very_ smart, he had even had his hair cut to the length Hermione liked best on him. As he watched her walk down the stairs his jaw dropped. She giggled when she saw his reaction and stopped when she reached the bottom of the stairs.

'I take it you like what you see,' she asked him.

'Er…yeah…yeah I do…a lot. You look…amazing.'

'Well thank you. I must say you're looking extremely sexy yourself!'

'If you think I'm sexy, you should take a look at yourself!'

Hermione laughed, 'so, are you going to tell me where we're going?'

'Nope, you'll find out soon enough. Now if you would care to take my arm, I'll take you to our destination.'

Hermione took Ron's arm and a second later was stood outside the gates to Hogwarts, Harry was stood waiting on the other side of the gates and smiled when they appeared in front of his eyes. He tapped the gates and the heavy chains wrapped around them unravelled and let the guests into the grounds. Harry relocked the gates and gave Hermione a hug.

'Happy birthday Hermione, you look stunning!'

'Why thank you Saviour Boy. You look quite smart yourself!'

Ron chuckled, he thought Hermione's name for Harry was hysterical.

'Has everyone arrived? Ron asked Harry.

'Yes, the lasts guests were arriving as I came down to let you in.'

'Oh God!' Hermione said, 'Who have you left my parents with?'

Harry laughed, 'Don't worry Hermione, your mum and dad were talking to Arthur when I left them.'

'Good, now do either of you want to tell me what's going on?'

'No!' Harry and Ron replied in unison.

Ron took Hermione's hand and started to lead her up the path to the school.

'It's beautiful isn't it?' she said, looking at the castle. 'Sometimes I wish we could have stayed school age for a long time so we got to spend more time here. We had fun didn't we? When we weren't worrying about Voldemort bursting through the door on occasions.'

Harry and Ron smiled.

'Yeah we did,' Harry replied.

'That's why I chose here for tonight,' Ron said, 'and for another reason which I won't go into now.'

He gave Hermione a mischievous smile, knowing his comments were winding her up.

'Er…won't the students notice something's going on?' Hermione asked.

'Nah, they've been locked in their common rooms since quarter to.'

'Oh they haven't!'

'Yeah they have, but don't worry they'll be let out at quarter past. Now stop asking questions, all will be revealed in a minute.'

They carried on walking up the grounds and entered the castle through the big oak doors. Ron led Hermione up the stairs to the seventh floor and as they walked along a very familiar corridor Hermione finally realised where they were going.'

'The Room of Requirement, I should have known,' she said, beaming.

Harry opened the door and walked into it. Ron led Hermione into the room and directed her to the left as she walked through the door. Hermione gasped at what she saw. The ceiling had been enchanted to look like the night sky, which was full of stars; she immediately found Orion and smiled. She looked at the far end of the room and saw a long table covered with every type of party food you could imagine. Above the table was a banner that said 'Happy Birthday Hermione' in glittery red writing. Red and gold balloons covered most of the floor and the tables that were dotted around the edge of the room. She looked to her right and noticed a large table stocked full of various types of alcohol.

'I'm guessing that was your doing!' she said with a laugh, pointing at the table.

Ron laughed but she heard people snigger behind her. She turned round and her jaw dropped, there was all her friends and close family stood behind her beaming.

'Happy birthday!' they all said at various times.

'Oh my-, Merlin above! _Everyone's_ here!'

Ginny rushed forward and enveloped Hermione in a hug, closely followed by Charles and Jan, and Arthur and Molly.

It took a full twenty minutes for Hermione to make her way through the crowd. By which time Harry had started the music playing and Ron had taken it upon himself to make sure everyone had a drink in their hand. When she had finally made her way through the crowd, which consisted of friends from school, she had been particularly glad to see Neville, Luna and Colin there, a few of the teachers who had come to wish her happy birthday, including of course Headmistress McGonagal, and members of the Order who they still saw from time to time, Hermione was faced with a table of her birthday presents.

She was in awe at how many there were and was obviously very grateful for them all. The small pile of four at the front caught her eye; she looked at the labels on them and saw they were from Harry and Ginny, her mum and dad, Arthur and Molly and finally Ron.

'You don't have to just look at them you know, you can open them!' Ron said as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

'I think I'll wait until later, it would be rude to ignore everyone and I'd make a _huge_ mess with all this paper!'

Ron laughed, 'ok then, would you like some food? And before you say anything, the House Elves didn't have to do it all, a few people brought some of it.'

Hermione smiled, 'don't worry I wasn't going to say anything about the House Elves. But _you_ didn't have to go to this much trouble though. I told you I had everything I wanted.'

'You _do_ like it don't you?' Ron asked looking slightly crest fallen.

'Oh Ron I love it, of course I do, it's all beautiful and the fact that it's here means a lot too.'

'Well then, stop worrying about the trouble I went to and just enjoy yourself. Now, would you like to dance?'

Hermione beamed, 'I would love to.'

That's how most of the night was spent, dancing to songs both wizard and muggle, and chatting to everyone who was there. The food was delicious and brought a typically 'Ron' moment which Hermione had to laugh at. He was stood looking at the plate of mini sausages on sticks with a puzzled look on his face.

'What?' Hermione asked him whilst piling food on to her plate.

He picked up one of the cocktail sticks and peered closely at it.

'I just don't understand why they're on sticks! I mean…why not just have them on the plate? It doesn't make sense, it's pointless! Muggles do some _very_ strange things!'

Hermione laughed, nearly choking on the crisps she had just put in her mouth.

'Yes Ron, they do, just don't stab yourself with the stick when you've eaten the sausage!

At ten o' clock after a particularly energeticsong had finished Harry switched the music off and shouted 'speech' towards Hermione. She glared at him; silently hoping no one else had heard the request, but soon enough the word was echoing around the room. After a minute everyone was looking expectantly at Hermione and she had turned the colour of her dress robes.

'Well…er…thank you Harry, for warning me in advance you were going to do that!' The crowd chuckled.

'You're welcome,' Harry replied.

'Er…I don't know what to say really. Thank you all for coming, I'm so glad you all did, it's wonderful having everyone here with me to celebrate my birthday.'

She found Ron in the crowd.

'I need to thank Ron too,' she held out her hand and Ron walked toward her out of the crowd and took it, 'as you probably all know it was him that organised this, although I have a feeling he had help from certain people. Seeing as though I wasn't allowed to know _any_ detail about tonight I'm not sure who you are but, thank you.' She paused and looked up at Ron.

'There's a few people who aren't here, who we all sadly miss, who should be around us laughing and having fun. I'm sure wherever they are they're stood with a drink in their hand…and…there's someone else who played a part in Ron being here with us today, hopefully he's off starting a new life somewhere, and I thank him too. All I wanted for my birthday was to have Ron stood beside me, well, I got that and I got all this as well so I'm feeling exceptionally privileged and unbelievably happy. Well…I think that satisfies the criteria for a speech so everyone can get back to their drinks, their food and their dancing…thanks!'

The crowd around her smiled. Harry shouted 'three cheers for the birthday girl. Hip hip!'

'Hooray!'

'Hip hip,'

'Hooray!'

'Hip hip!

'_Hooray_!'

At this Hermione turned scarlet again. The crowd separated and went back to what they had been doing before. Harry turned the music on and Hermione dragged Ron back to the dance floor.

At half past eleven Ron pulled Hermione away from the dancing group and out of the room.

'Ron what are you doing?' she whispered, slightly giggly from what she'd drunk in the past five hours.

'I want to take you somewhere.'

'Where?' she asked, still whispering.

'Like I'm going to tell you, now come on.' He took her hand and walked her through the school, both of them giggling as they walked. After five minutes they emerged at the top of the Astronomy Tower slightly out of breath from the climb.

'Why have you brought me here?' Hermione asked Ron.

'Well…this place is special to me.'

'Why?'

'Because…because it's the place where I realised…where I realised I had fallen in love with you.'

Hermione went to say something but Ron placed a finger on her lips.

'Shh, let me talk for a minute.' He took both her hands in his, 'I realised it after we'd been in the library one day. We'd been researching…something, I can't remember what, we did that much of it…anyway, you were just sat there and I was just looking at you. You were concentrating so hard on what you were reading, and it was as I was looking at you then that I realised I never wanted to…not be with you. It scared me so much that I think I upped and left straight away, uttering some excuse or other at your shocked face. I came here and paced for a bit, wondering what this would mean for us, but I couldn't ignore the fact that I'd fallen in love with you, nothing could change that.

'I wanted to just hide my feelings and pretend nothing had changed, but then I remembered that people were being killed nearly every day by then and if I didn't tell you, I might never get the chance. And besides, that wouldn't have been very Gryffindor of me would it?'

He looked into Hermione's eyes and saw that she was crying.'

'Hey, what are the tears for?'

'I just…that was…I just love you _so much_ Ron.'

'I know you do, I'm just sorry I didn't tell you there and then. I made you wait _months_ for me to say the actual words. All I managed to say that night was that I thought I liked you 'more than friends should like each other'! Hardly the most romantic thing in the world to say. I guess I was just scared that you didn't feel the same, or that you didn't want things to change between us.'

'But I did.'

'Yes you did, and you have no idea how relieved I was!'

'I think I have a pretty good idea, I was _so_ happy to hear you say what you said. I don't think I stopped smiling once I'd gone to bed!'

'Me neither!'

'So, that's why I brought you here, it's one of my favourite places, even though I won't get to visit it much anymore.'

'I'm sure Professor McGonagal will let you visit it from time to time. Especially if both of us ask as it's now one of my favourite places too!'

'Hermione, I can't promise you that our relationship will be perfect but I'll try to make you the happiest witch alive. I have a feeling we'll still bicker occasionally, now things are as back to normal as they can be, but then again I think I'd be concerned if we didn't!'

Hermione laughed.

'But I think we're owed some 'normal living' so I think we should start doing just that, don't you?'

'I think that would be perfect.'

'Just like you!'

Hermione laughed again, 'Ron that was a _really_ cheesy thing to say!'

He laughed with her, 'I know, but I don't care.'

He wiped away the tear tracks on Hermione's cheeks with his thumb then pulled her towards him.

'I love you Hermione, so much.'

'I love you too Ron.'

He leant in and kissed her and as she kissed him back thoughts flooded her mind. She didn't care if it wasn't going to be perfect; she knew life was _never_ perfect. All she cared about was being with the man she loved and living her life to the fullest. She pulled Ron closer to her and kissed him harder.

Yes, she would live life to the fullest. Starting now.

* * *

**Well, that was the final chapter of 'Losing Sight of a Falling Star' by me, The Steppy One. I know it's longer than any of the other chapters but I didn't think you'd mind much! A few people have asked if there will be a sequel and there most likely will be one, but before that there will be a seven chapter fic posted called 'The Seven Ways I Cry' so watch out for that one!**

**Thank you to those people who have reviewed throughout, it really does give me motivation to carry on writing, and if you haven't reviewed before, now would be a _really _good time to do so :)**

**Cheers and ta muchly**

**Sarah XxXxX ;)**


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